“La France l’a fait” – MLETR gains further momentum with adoption by France

MLETR (remember this acronym as it becomes more popular) stands for The Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records..

MLETR by UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission On International Trade Law) aims to enable the legal use of electronic transferable records making electronic transferable records functionally equivalent to paper-based transferable documents such as bills of lading, bills of exchange, promissory notes, and warehouse receipts..

MLETR is seen as a key piece of legislation aimed at enabling digitalisation of global trade using a uniform regulatory approach for the use of electronic trade documentation..

The MLETR requires the adoption by individual countries or alignment with the MLETR standards and integration of its concepts into their own local jurisdictions..

On the 5th of June 2024, the French National Assembly adopted MLETR adding France to the list of countries/jurisdictions to adopt this model law..

The other countries/jurisdictions that have adopted MLETR are Bahrain, Belize, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Singapore, Timor Leste, United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Global Market), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland..

The adoption of this law introduced by Alexandre Holroyd allows France to join an elite club of countries pioneering the digitalisation of global trade and trade finance..

Since the 2022 White Paper dedicated to the digitalisation of international trade, ICC France has been actively advocating for the UNCITRAL Model Law (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) on electronic transferable records to be adopted..

This work, led by the European Parliament, has led to the necessary adjustments to French law to enable France to seize the opportunities offered by this law..

As per a press release by ICC France, the amendment to Article L.110-3 of the Commercial Code, adopted in January 2024, allows the recognition of electronic transferable records, such as bills of lading or bills of exchange, and positions France as one of the pioneers in the digitalisation of international trade finance..

The press release further notes that these changes will allow companies in France to benefit from new opportunities representing more than 800 billion dollars in savings by 2030, according to the Paris Europlace report submitted to ministers Bruno Le Maire, Olivier Becht, and Éric Dupond-Moretti in 2023..