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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Legislative history of CISG article 86:
Match- up with 1978 Draft to assess relevance of Secretariat Commentary

      1978 Draft article 75                         CISG article 86                                                                      
                                                                                                                                   
(1)If the goods have been received by  (1)If the buyer has received the goods                                                  
   the buyer and he intends to reject     and intends to exercise any right                                                    
   them, he must take such steps as       under the contract or this Conven-                                                   
   are reasonable in the circumstances    tion to reject them, he must take                                                    
   to preserve them. He may retain        such steps to preserve them as are                                                   
   them until he has been reimbursed      reasonable in the circumstances. He                                                  
   his reasonable expenses by the         is entitled to retain them until he has                                              
   seller.                                been reimbursed his reasonable ex-                                                   
                                          penses by the seller.                                                                
                                                                                                                                   
(2)If goods dispatched to the buyer    (2)If goods dispatched to the buyer                                                     
   have been placed at his disposal at    have been placed at his disposal at                                                  
   their destination and he exercises     their destination and he exercises                                                   
   the right to reject them, he must      the right to reject them, he must                                                    
   take possession of them on behalf of   take possession of them on behalf of                                                 
   the seller, provided that he can do    the seller, provided that this can be                                                
   so without payment of the price and    done without payment of the price                                                    
   without unreasonable inconveni-        and without unreasonable incon-                                                      
   ence or unreasonable expense. This     venience or unreasonable expense.                                                    
   provision does not apply if the sel-   This provision does not apply if the                                                 
   ler or a person authorized to take     seller or a person authorized to take                                                
   charge of the goods on his behalf is   charge of the goods on his behalf is                                                 
   present at the destination.            present at the destination. If the                                                   
                                          buyer takes possession of the goods                                                  
                                          under this paragraph, his rights and                                                 
                                          obligations are governed by the pre-                                                 
                                          ceding paragraph.                                                                    
                      

Editorial comments
CISG article 86 and 1978 Draft article 75 are substantively identical,
with a third sentence added to paragraph (2).  The explanation is:

"Mrs. KAMARUL (Australia) said that her delegation's amendment ... was
intended to make it clear in article 75(1) [of the 1978 Draft] that the
buyer was obliged to preserve the goods if he had received them and intended
to reject them, even in the case envisaged in [Draft] article 75(2), namely when the
buyer had taken possession of them on behalf of the seller in the
circumstances set out in the paragraph...." (Official Records, p. 399).

The Secretariat Commentary on 1978 Draft article 75 should be relevant to
the interpretation of CISG article 86.

To examine 1978 Draft provisions in context, go to the full-text of the 1978 Draft || To examine CISG provisions in context, go to the full text of the CISG