Recently, Vietnam ratified the UN agreement on contracts for the international sale of goods (CISG), which took effect on 1 January 2017. With this ratification expanding and complementing Vietnam’s existing domestic legal framework for the sale of goods between Vietnamese and foreign entities.

The contract agreement supports the commercial activities of traders in Vietnam with respect to their customers and counterparts located abroad, by providing a universally understood and applied legal framework. Before this agreement, the international sale of goods in Vietnam came under the purview of national trade laws, international best practices, and multilateral or bilateral trade agreements or treaties. Following ratification, the contracts for the international sale of goods will reflect specific information that uniformly is to be included in a goods sale and purchase contract. The agreement also specifies rules concerning the time frame in which to make a claim and remedies in the event of a breach of contract.