THE OPERATION OF CISG ARTICLE 82

Article 82 of the Convention belongs to Section IV of the Convention, entitled Effects of Avoidance. According to the provisions contained in CISG Article 82, the buyer loses the right to avoid the contract or to demand substitute goods when it is impossible for him to make restitution of the goods in a condition substantially similar to that in which he received them. However, the buyer retains the right to avoid the contract if the following conditions are met: the damages to the goods are not due to the buyer's act or omission [Article 82(2)(a)]; the deterioration or consumption of the goods results from the examination as required by CISG Article 38 [see Article 82(2)(b)]; or the goods are sold in the normal course of business or consumed or transformed by him in the normal course of use before he discovered, or should have discovered, their lack of conformity [(Article 82(2)(c)].

The general rule of the Convention– i.e., that the contract may be avoided only if the goods can be returned substantially in the condition in which the buyer received them–is stated in Article 82(1). However, Article 82(2), provides three considerable exceptions to that rule. Paragraph 2 in Article 82, therefore, deals with the allocation of the risk of loss of the goods before avoidance.