A Study on the Clause of Uniform Commercial Code for Electronic Bills of Lading

Abstract

In 2003, the Uniform Commercial Code(UCC) which is a kind of model law to unify commercial law between several states in US was amended to use electronic document of title including bill of lading. It is the second following the Australia legislation in 1996. Also, the Korean government amended Commercial Act and made the Presidential Decree for using electronic bill of lading in 2008. In this paper the authors reveal the characteristics of the clause of UCC for electronic bill of lading. The characteristics of the clause are on the technical neutrality of the signature, the possibility of reissuance in alternative medium, and adoption of the concept of “control.” It helps to suggest some implications for Korean government authority. The authors suggest the amendment of the Presidential Decree to the Korean government authority to use additionally digital signature authorized by non Korean government such as VeriSign. It will activate the use of electronic bill of lading issued by Korea repositary out of Korea.