In an increasingly economically interdependent world, the importance of an improved legal framework for the facilitation of international trade and investment is widely acknowledged.
UNCITRAL plays an important role in developing that framework because of its mandate to prepare and promote the use and adoption of legislative and non-legislative instruments in a number of key areas.
These instruments are negotiated through an international process involving a variety of participants. UNCITRAL membership is structured so as to be representative of different legal traditions and levels of economic development. As a result of this process, the UNCITRAL texts are widely accepted as offering solutions appropriate to many different countries at different stages of economic development.
Technical Assistance to Law Reform
UNCITRAL undertakes a range of technical assistance activities to promote its work and the use and adoption of the legislative and non-legislative texts it has developed to further the progressive harmonization and unification of private law.
Coordination of Work on International Trade Law
An important part of the mandate of UNCITRAL is to coordinate the work of organizations active in the field of international trade law, both within and outside the United Nations' system, to encourage cooperation between them, avoid duplication of effort and promote efficiency, consistency and coherence in the modernization and harmonization of international trade law. In recent years, there has been a growing number of rule-making bodies developing texts in areas of law that affect international trade, making UNCITRAL's coordination function increasingly important.
