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uniform customs and practice for documentаry credits – унифицированные правила и обычаи для документарных аккредитивов

utilize – использовать, употреблять

total – весь, целый, общий

international trade – международная торговля

promotion – продвижение, развитие

ample debate – широкое обсуждение

voluntarily - добровольный, добровольческий

international review – международное обозрение

judicial scrutiny – судебное исследование

facilitate – облегчать, содействовать

permit – позволять, разрешать

alleviate – облегать, смягчать

universal acceptance – всеобщее одобрение

The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP) is a set of rules on the issuance and use of letters of credit. The UCP is utilised by bankers and commercial parties in more than 175 countries in trade finance. Some 11-15% of international trade utilises letters of credit, totalling over a trillion dollars (US) each year.

Historically, banks, have developed the techniques and methods for handling letters of credit in international trade finance. This practice has been standardized by the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) by publishing the UCP in 1933 and subsequently updating it throughout the years.

A significant function of the ICC is the preparation and promotion of its uniform rules of practice. The ICC’s aim is to provide a codification of international practice occasionally selecting the best practice after ample debate and consideration. The ICC rules of practice are designed by bankers and merchants and not by legislatures with political and local considerations. The rules accordingly demonstrate the needs, customs and practices of business. Because the rules are incorporated voluntarily into contracts, the rules are flexible while providing a stable base for international review, including judicial scrutiny. International revision is thus facilitated permitting the incorporation of the changing practices of the commercial parties. ICC, which was established in 1919, had as its primary objective facilitating the flow of international trade at a time when nationalism and protectionism threatened the easing of world trade. It was in that spirit that the UCP were first introduced – to alleviate the confusion caused by individual countries’ promoting their own national rules on letter of credit practice. The aim was to create a set of contractual rules that would establish uniformity in practice, so that there would be less need to cope with often conflicting national regulations. The universal acceptance of the UCP by practitioners in countries with widely divergent economic and judicial systems is a testament to the rules’ success.

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Text 13. Social insurance