Electronic Trade Documents Bill Introduced in UK

On 12 October 2022, HL Bill 57 – the Electronic Trade Documents Bill – was presented before the United Kingdom Parliament. The Bill, based on UK Law Commission recommendations and draft legislation, proposes changes to the law that would allow for the legal recognition of electronic versions of trade documents such as bills of lading and bills of exchange.

The Law Commission had been asked by the Government to set out reforms to the legal status of electronic trade documents in 2020. Following a consultation period, the Law Commission published its recommendations in March 2022.

The Bill will now go through the UK House of Lords before going to the House of Commons. If passed, the Bill would modernize the UK’s Bills of Exchange Act 1882 and Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 to give digital trade documents the same legal status as their paper-based equivalents.