對外貿易中的訂貨與法律效力

摘 要： 改革開放二十多年來，我國的對外貿易取得了令人矚目的成就。隨著我國社會主義市場經濟體制的建立和加入世貿組織，我國對外貿易得到迅速發展。由于貿易雙方當事人分處不同國家，各國法律對許多問題的解釋和處理存在一定差異，因此在訂貨時，應特別注意其法律效力，盡量不出現可能產生雙方爭議的問題。

關鍵詞： 對外貿易 訂貨 法律效力

目前，我國進行國際貨物買賣時，主要參照的一項國際公約是《聯合國國際貨物銷售合同公約》（簡稱《公約》）。《公約》成為我國進行國際貿易的一項最重要的國際公約。在我國，出口貿易的基本業務程序為：一，準備階段；二，出口交易磋商及合同訂立階段；三，出口合同履行階段。其中第二階段的主要活動包括：買賣貨物的各種交易條件，進行貿易磋商、談判，簽定出口銷售合同或售貨確認書。到第二階段的后半段，特別是訂貨這一環節，其法律效應的體現尤為明顯，其書面表述的準備清楚、及時與否，關系到了合同的效力及今后交易雙方的合作。若有不慎則容易引起糾紛。訂貨可通過書信形式達成，也可用事先印妥的格式訂單，訂單或訂貨書信一經賣方確認，一般就成為對買賣雙方都有法律約束力的合同。

訂貨是買方向賣方提出的要求。賣方按訂單所列的各項條件供貨。要獲得訂單，買賣雙方要經過一次或多次報盤、還盤、反還盤等拉鋸戰，最后由買方接受，即由買方制作訂單發給賣方而生效。買方也可以根據事先送達產品的目錄、價目表，甚至樣品，直接訂貨（或稱訂購）。以下從書面形式談談訂貨的法律效力。

理想的訂貨信函包括的內容應該有：

（1）明確告知對方訂貨的信息（Inform the receiver of your order）。

（2）具體確認商品名稱、條款等細節 （Confirm the specifications，such as items，terms and conditions，etc.）。

（3）告知對方具體的訂貨安排（Inform the receiver of the arrangement of your order）。

（4）敦促對方盡快發貨（Urge the receiver to deliver goods as early as possible）。

以下筆者舉例說明定貨的有效性。

1.表示接受：根據《公約》的規定，一項有效的接受必須由特定受盤人在有效期內表示出來，而且其意思表示應真實和清楚才具有法律效力。例如：

a. With reference to your letter of May 6th，we are pleased to give an order for the following.（關于你方5月6日的來信，我們欣然接受，并訂購如下。）

b. Thank you for your offer of June 6th.Your prices and quality are satisfactory and we are sending you an order as follows.（感謝你們6月6日的報價，你方的價格和質量令人滿意，現在我們訂購如下。）

c. Our customers require the goods for Christmas. It is imperative that the ordered goods reach us by the end of November.（我們的客戶于圣誕節需要貨物，請你們務必在11月底前交貨于我方。）

2.表示拒絕：根據《公約》的表述，拒絕應明確提出并經過有效的撤銷，方可失效。如以下文字表述：

a. We are sorry to say that because orders for the item required have been booked up to the end of this year，we are unable to accept any fresh order for shipment within this year.（很抱歉，訂貨已預訂到年底，我們無法接受任何年內交運的新訂單。）

b. We regret that even on receipt of your order we will not be able to meet your requirement at short convenience as the items you specified are out of stock.（很遺憾，因貴方所指定的貨物現在缺貨，所以即使收到你方的訂單，我們也無法滿足你們的要求。）

從形式上看，一份銷售確認書也可以視為一份經過壓縮的訂貨合同。一份銷售確認書應主要包括幾個方面才被認為具備法律效力：

（1）商品名稱和規格、數量和包裝（Name of commodity and specifications，the quantity and packing）。

（2）發貨日期和目的港（Date of shipment and destination port）。

（3）報價（Quotation of prices）。

（4）支付方式（Terms of payment）。

（5）保險（Insurance）。

（6）索賠（Claim）。

（7）仲裁（Arbitration）。

（8）必須具備的貨運單據（Shipping documents required）。

銷售確認書主要有兩種。一種以文字（書信）形式體現，一種則以印制好的表格出現。以下從文字（書信）方面舉例說明。

例如：An Order from New Customer（新客戶訂貨）

Gentlemen：

We thank you for your quotation of September 15th together with patterns of Shanghai Printed Pure Silk Fabrics. We find both quality and prices satisfactory and are pleased to give you trial order for the following items:

Quality Pattern No. Prices

15，000yards 9001 US$10per yd.

10，000yards 9003 US$15per yd.

（All the prices are CIF San Francisco）

We expect to find a good marker for the above and hope to place further and larger orders with you in the near future. Our usual terms of payment are by D/P 60 days and we hope they will be satisfactory to you. Meanwhile should you wish to make enquiries concerning our financial standing，you may refer to the following bank:

（The name and address of the bank）

Yours truly

又如：Confirming an Order（確認訂貨）

Dear Sirs，

We dispatch to you this order as per yesterday’s cable: 10000 DOZ MENSSHIRTS HAIDABRAND MAYSHIPMT DIRECT STEAMER PLSCONFIRM.

Particular care should be taken about the quality and the packing of the goods to be delivered in this first order.It is the usual practice here that 10 shirts are packed to a carton and 10 cartons to a strong seaworthy wooden case.There will be a flow of orders if this order proves to be satisfactory.

We are enclosing our Confirmation of Purchase in duplicate. Please sign one copy and return to us for our records.As soon as we receive your confirmation，a letter of credit will be opened through Barclay’s Bank of London.

We trust this order will be the first of a series of deals between us.

Sincerely

例如：Rejecting Ordered Price（拒絕接受訂單價格）

Dear Sirs，

We refer to your Order No.FR246 and regret to say that we are not able to accept your bid price for Frozen Rabbit Meat.

As you may be aware that the prices for foodstuffs have gone up sharply owing to the rough weather，it is impossible to purchase supplies at economic prices. Moreover，we have improved our packing method，as you may have seen from our samples，which cost us a lot. The price，therefore，is 8% higher than your bid. As the market is firm with an upward tendency，we advise you to accept our price without delay. In view of our long business connection we will definitely keep supplies available for you if you amend the price in your order within 5 days.

Yours faithfully

再如:Canceling an Order（取消訂單）

Dear Sirs，

We refer you to the S/C No.678 which stipulates shipment to be made not later than October 10th.We regret that so far nothing has been heard from you.

When we placed our order with you，we stressed the importance of dispatching the goods. They are required for the winter sales in this country and they should therefore arrive here by the end of October.

As we have not received any information from you that the goods have been sent，we have no alternative but to cancel this order. We regret this action，but you will understand that we have no other choices，as our customers insist on delivery by that date.

Yours sincerely

訂貨是國際貿易中的重要環節，在實際業務中一般需要用書面形式將買賣雙方的權利義務明文規定下來便于執行。從原則上講，接受的內容應該與發盤中提出的條件完全一致，才表明交易雙方就有關的交易條件達成了一致意見，從而才能導致有效合同的成立。雖然書面訂貨與正式的合同在格式條款項目和內容繁簡上有所不同，但在法律上具有同等效力，對買賣雙方均有約束力。

參考文獻：

［1］戚云方.外貿英語函電與談判［J］.浙江大學出版社，2002.

［2］裘果芬.國際商務英語洽談［M］.上海交通大學出版社，2000.