“The aim has been to provide a Commentary that enlightens practitioners as to the thought processes behind the changes in each article and to explain why a change was introduced and, in some cases, why no change was made.”   -- Gary Collyer, Chair of the UCP 600 Drafting Group

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has established rules on documentary credits worldwide for more than 70 years. UCP 600, the latest version of ICC’s universally used rules on documentary credits, came into effect on July 1, 2007. Members of the Drafting Group that developed the new UCP have produced an article-by-article Commentary on the rules.

Commentary on UCP 600, which reflects the Group’s personal views*, explains the rationale behind the changes in the rules and clarifies the general principles that underlie them. The Drafting Group’s Commentary on UCP 600 examines each of the 39 articles of the new UCP. Each article and sub-article is analyzed under four different topics:

• the text of the article (or sub-article),
• the key changes from UCP 500,
• a commentary explaining the rationale for the new language, and
• the cross-references to other articles in UCP 600.

Practical, compact and easy-to read, Commentary on UCP 600 will be a reference book of choice for students and users of the new UCP.

*Note that Commentary on UCP 600 reflects the personal views of the UCP Drafting Group. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the full ICC Banking Commission.