The Covid 19 pandemic has made significant impacts to the manufacture and business activities globally, causing a great deal of adverse influence as well as creating a lot of contractual disputes over international sale of goods in Vietnam (“Contract”), which has led to huge economic losses to the contracting parties. Thus, resolving the said disputes in a quick and effective manner is extremely important for the aggrieved party to protect its lawful rights and interests under the Contract.
Contract for International Sale of Goods in Vietnam
The Sale of Goods Contract means an agreement made in writing or in other equivalent forms such as telegraph, email, fax, correspondence, messages in which the seller is obliged to deliver the goods/shipments to the buyer. In return, the Buyer takes responsibility for making payment to the Seller and receiving goods/ shipments as agreed; The goods are transported from the seller to the buyer through border gates or from a non-tariff zone into domestic market or vice versa.
Under the Vietnamese legislation, the international sale and purchase should be executed under written contracts or other equivalent valid forms.
Common Contractual Disputes over International Sale of Goods in Vietnam
Due to the disruption of supply chain and transportation of goods due to the impact of blockade and social distance measures of Vietnam, the freight shipping between foreign countries and Vietnam has been congested and delayed. Accordingly, disputes over contracts for the international sale of goods in Vietnam are on the rise with some typical types as follows:
- Disputes over non-delivery or delivery of wrong item/ quality/ quantity according to agreements between the parties
- Disputes due to behind schedule delivery;
- Disputes over not refunding the deposit/ payment in relation to the Contract;
- Disputes over insurance of goods/ products;
- Disputes over goods/ products delivered not in accordance with the Contract;
- Disputes over suspension or termination of the Contract due to hardship or force majeure;
- Disputes due to discrepancy between governing laws and that of dispute resolution body;
- Dispute over penalty, compensation under the Contract.
The governing law and methods of dispute resolution
The commonly used documents to resolve contractual disputes over international sales of goods in Vietnam include the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods 1980 (CISG), Incoterms, The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP) and legal documents of Vietnam.
There are 04 common methods of contractual dispute resolution in Vietnam such as:
- Negotiation;
- Mediation;
- Arbitration;
- Court.
Read more: Methods of dispute resolution in Vietnam
In the context that adverse conditions during the epidemic period can greatly affect the conclusion, performance and fulfillment of obligations in the International Sale of Goods Contract, customers should learn and research carefully study the legal provisions/international treaties before signing the contract.
Should Clients need further legal assistance in drafting, negotiating contracts for international sale of goods in Vietnam, feel free to contact ALB & Partners. With a team of experienced litigation and dispute resolution lawyers, many of whom have been former judges at courts capable of successfully resolving a large number of complex cases for Clients, we take pride in ourselves as appreciated by Clients as one of the prestigious law firms in the field of litigation & dispute resolution in Vietnam.
