Code of International Trade

a law of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic regulating its international trade relations; the law was adopted by the National Assembly on Dec. 4, 1963, and went into effect on Apr. 1, 1964. It regulates international trade relations if, because of the principles of international private law, a Czechoslovak law must be applied to a particular business transaction. Unlike the civil and trade codes of other countries, this code is a domestic law and regulates relations only in the field of international trade. The provisions of the code are applied insofar as the corresponding international treaty does not establish any other code. For example, the General Conditions of Deliveries (GCD) dealing with commodities, an international treaty established in 1968 by the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, has priority over the Code of International Trade.

The code regulates the procedure for the participation of individuals and legal entities in international trade, contains basic provisions on business transactions and on the consequences of their nullification, and regulates questions of representation and the period of limitation. A special chapter is devoted to general provisions of liability (the appearance of liability relations, the legal status of the participants in such relations, the contents of treaties, guarantees, and the termination of liabilities). One of the chapters regulates the basic type of contract in international trade, that is, the contract of sale, as well as contracts for storage hire, lease, loans, contracting, commission, transportation, insurance, and brokerage; it also deals with bank operations and other matters.