Abstract
International trade can support economic development and social upliftment. However, people are often discouraged from contracting internationally due to differences in legal systems which act as a non-tariff barrier to trade. This article focuses on the private law framework regulating international contracts of sale. During the twentieth century, the problem of diverse laws was primarily addressed by global uniform law such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). However, uniform law is rarely complete and has to be supplemented by national law, trade usage or party agreement. Because of gaps that exist in the CISG the Swiss government made a proposal for a new global contract law. But is this a feasible solution to the fragmentary state of international trade law? In Europe, signs of reluctance are setting in towards further harmonisation efforts. The Proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL) was recently withdrawn, and now Britain has voted to leave the European Union; rumour having it that more countries might follow. The current private law framework for international sales contracts consists of a hybrid system where international, national, state and non-state law function side by side. This article submits that universalism is not per se the most efficient approach to the regulation of international sales law and that economic forces require a more varied approach for business-to-business transactions. The biggest challenge, however, would be to manage global legal pluralism. It is concluded that contractual parties, the courts and arbitral tribunals can effectively manage pluralism on a case-by-case basis. 
 
Highlights
From a private law perspective, one of the major challenges faced by an international contract of sale is the diversity of legal systems that might potentially apply to it
During the twentieth century the problem of diverse laws was primarily addressed by global uniform law such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)
Unlike Hermann, who focused on commercial rules only, they propose that the general principles of contract law as provided by the Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) should form part of the global code
Summary
From a private law perspective, one of the major challenges faced by an international contract of sale is the diversity of legal systems that might potentially apply to it. Where no general principles are to be found, the judge may venture outside the four corners of the CISG and settle the matter in conformity with the applicable law.22 It is, clear that the CISG does not unify the law of international sales in an exhaustive manner but instead operates in a supplementary and symbiotic relationship with national law, trade usage, party autonomy and other international instruments of harmonisation. In 2012, at the 45th session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the Swiss government introduced a proposal which suggested that the limited scope and piecemeal nature of the CISG necessitate an assessment of the Convention to determine whether it fulfils the present needs of international business and will be able to do so in future.. 26 For a discussion on the shortcomings of the Proposal, see Dennis 2014 Unif L Rev; Gabriel 2013 Vill L Rev
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