Spear headed by the ICA Rules Committee and approved by the Association’s directors and members, a new edition of the ICA Bylaws & Rules comes in to force on 1 August 2012 and applies to all contracts made on or after this date.

“The changes are significant and, if you trade under ICA Bylaws & Rules, I strongly recommended that you familiarise yourself with the new edition now,” says Richard Pollard, Chairman of the ICA Rules Committee. “Not only have we improved the layout to make it easier to follow, we have deleted Bylaws & Rules that are no longer relevant and inserted new Bylaws to cover the ‘Small Claims Technical Arbitration’ procedure, which has now been introduced for disputes with a value at, or less than, US$ 25,000.
“Rules concerning weighing and sampling have also been updated to ensure all timescales are in line and are representative of the current trading environment. Bylaws in the administration section have been amended to include all ICA membership categories, including the new ‘Agent Firms’ category.”
The ICA Bylaws & Rules were originally created in 1863 to regulate the sale and purchase of raw cotton. They can be applied to contracts covering the purchaseand sale of cotton between any two companies anywhere in the world. They are continuouslyupdated in line with current industry practice and are published in a varietyof languages.
Richard says: “Today, it is estimated that the majority of the world’s cotton is still traded under ICA Bylaws & Rules and, whilst they have changed with time, their aim remains the same – to create a safe trading environment and protect the legitimate interests of all those who trade cotton, whether buyer or seller.”