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| A French seller and a Swiss buyer concluded a contract for the sale of fruits and vegetables to be delivered on certain dates. As the buyer did not pay for some deliveries, the parties reached an agreement in which the buyer accepted to pay some arrearages each month and the seller accepted to deliver some further goods. Later, the seller commenced action against the buyer alleging breach of the second contract, as the buyer did not pay some of the arrearages nor the price of the goods further delivered.
The Court observed that the contract was governed by CISG because either both parties had their places of business in contracting States (Art. 1(1)(a) CISG) or the Swiss private international law rules led to the application of the law of France, a contracting State (Art. 1(1)(b) CISG). The Court, in determining that the buyer had not contested the invoices sent by the seller, held that the seller was therefore entitled to payment of the price pursuant to Art. 53 CISG. The Court further held that the seller was entitled to interest on the price (Art 78 CISG). As CISG does not determine either the time of interest accrual or the interest rate, the Court stated that both questions had to be determined by the law otherwise applicable to the contract (in this case French law). Therefore, interest accrued from the date the seller requested buyer to pay the price. French law was also applicable to determine the rate of interest. However, as the seller failed to prove the relevant rate in France, the Court referred to Swiss law to ascertain the applicable rate. |