The Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 and the 2003 Amendments to Article 7 of the Uniform Commercial Code: Do They Do the Same Thing?

Abstract

This paper contrasts the respective approaches to digitalising documents of title to goods of the UK's Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 and of Article 7 of the US Uniform Commercial Code. It finds that in terms of legal analysis there are appreciable differences between the two approaches to the notion of control but that there is little difference in their approach to reliability. It concludes that, despite the distinct legal concepts of control that they adopt, from a practical perspective, it is unlikely that a system that satisfies the requirements of one will not also be viewed as satisfying the requirements of the other.

Keywords: Electronic Trade Documents Act, Uniform Commercial Code, electronic bill of lading, possession, control, document of title, digitalisation