Aluzinc coating is composed by 55% aluminium, 43% zinc and 2% silicon. For purposes of this translation, Claimant of Germany is referred to as Seller; Respondent of the People’s Republic of China is referred to as Buyer. During the process of issuing the L/C, on 18 September 1995, Seller according to the notice of loading No. 95WZT011BMX, faxed to Buyer requesting to revise each package weight to 6 MTs, which means that Seller requested to revise the clause of each package to weight in the contract. Seamless Pipe supplier China
Germany and China, the countries in which the parties’ places of business are located, are parties of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980) (CISG), and the CISG is mentioned many times in Seller’s application and Buyer’s defense. Seller insisted that Buyer should revise the specification, shipping period and expiration date of the L/C, because the goods delivered were not in compliance with the contract; thus, Seller anticipatorily breached the contact, so Buyer did not revise the specification, shipping period and expiration date in the L/C. It is unreasonable for Seller to assert that Buyer breached the contact.
Because Seller fundamentally breached the contact, Buyer did not revise the L/C, and cancelled the contract. Thus, Seller delivered goods not in compliance with the contact. Seller need not insist that Buyer should revise the L/C, and could deliver the goods, if the goods are as Seller asserts that “the weight of each package has nothing to do with the specification”, ” the quality and specification of the goods are in compliance with the contract, which is undisputable”.
In transactions involving steel, the length is usually measured by each package to weight, because when the quality, thickness and width are fixed, weight decides length. In this contract, the specification of the goods consists of technical factors of galvanized surface, size and weight. “The Seller must deliver goods which are of the quantity, quality and description required by the contract and which are contained or packaged in the manner required by the contract.”
The quality and specification of the goods delivered by Seller is in compliance with the contract. The specification stipulated in the contract is JIS G3302 SGCC Z28 with both sides galvanized; the size is 0.35 x 1,000MM x Coil. The China International Trade and Economic Arbitration Commission hereafter, the Arbitration Commission accepted this case according to the arbitration clause in Contract No. 5ES4815145DE signed on 28 July 1995, by Claimant Seller, Germany _ Company, and Respondent Buyer, China _ Import and Export Zhejiang Company.
Since the parties’ places of business, Germany and China, are Contracting States of the CISG, and the CISG was often referred to in the seller’s application and the buyer’s defence, the Arbitration Tribunal ruled that the CISG was the applicable law. The seller alleged that the weight of each package, which was only the way of packing the goods, had nothing to do with the quality and specification of the goods and would not affect their usage.
