Case number: 216
Article number: sales convention / 58(1)
Thessaurs issue:
Country of decision: Switzerland
Year of decision: 1997
Type of decision: Judicial decision

Case 216: CISG 58 (1)
Switzerland: Kantonsgericht St. Gallen, 3 ZK 96-145
12 August 1997
Original in German
Unpublished
Abstract published in German in 1 Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Internationales und Europäisches Recht 80 [1998]
A German seller of clothing sued a Swiss buyer for the purchase price. The buyer claimed that the seller didn't deliver documents necessary to clear the goods through customs and that it therefore had to return the clothing.

The court held that the buyer must pay the purchase price when the seller places either the goods or documents controlling their disposition at the buyer's disposal (article 58 (1) CISG). In general, documents representing the goods are to be procured by the party exporting the goods. This is not necessarily the seller in every case. The procurement of customs documents is incumbent upon the seller, only if so agreed between seller and buyer, which was not the case.