Lanka re-elected to UN body

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka was re-elected by acclamation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, (UNCITRAL) for a six year period, at the election on May 22 at the United Nations in New York. Other countries elected representing the Asian region were Bahrain, China, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and Singapore.

UNCITRAL was established in 1996 to further the progressive harmonisation and unification of the international trade law as the core legal body of the United Nations system. It is currently working in seven key areas - sale of goods and related transactions, transport of goods, commercial arbitration and conciliation, public procurement, construction contracts, international payments and electronic commerce.

Sri Lanka enacted Electronic Transaction Act No. 19 of 2006 based on the UNCITRAL model law on e-commerce and e-signature, and signed the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, last year.

Sri Lanka was first elected to UNCITRAL in 2003.

The next meeting of the UNCITRAL will be held in Vienna, Austria from June 25 to July 12, 2007.