Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (1993 Revision)A. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS Article 1. Application of UCP The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, 1993 Revision, ICC Publication No. 500, shall apply to all documentary Credits (including to the extent to which they may be applicable, Standby Letter(s) of Credit) where they are incorporated into the text of the Credit. They are binding on all parties thereto, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the Credit. Article 2. Meaning of Credit For the purposes of these Articles, the expressions Documentary Credit (s) and Standby Letter(s) of Credit (hereinafter referred to as Credit (s) ), mean any arrangement, however named or described, whereby a bank(the Issuing Bank) acting at the request and on the instructions of a customer (the Applicant) or on its own behalf, i) is to make a payment to or to the order of a third party(the Beneficiary), or is to accept and pay bills of exchange(Draft(s) drawn by the Beneficiary, or ii) authorizes another bank to effect such payment, or to accept and pay such bills of exchange(Draft(s), or iii) authorizes another bank to negotiate, against stipulated document(s), provided that the terms and conditions of the Credit are complied with. For the purposes of these Articles, branches of a bank in different countries are considered another bank. Article 3. Credits v. Contracts a. Credits, by their nature, are separate transactions from the sales or other contract(s) on which they may be based and banks are in no way concerned with or bound by such contract(s), even if any reference whatsoever to such contract(s) is included in the Credit. Consequently, the undertaking of a bank to pay, accept and pay Draft(s) or negotiate and/or to fulfill any other obligation under the Credit, is not subject to claims or defenses by the Applicant resulting from his relationships with the Issuing Bank or the Beneficiary. b. A Beneficiary can in no case avail himself of the contractual relationships existing between the banks or between the Applicant and the Issuing Bank. Article 4. Documents v. Goods/Services/Performances In Credit operations all parties concerned deal with documents, and not with goods, services and/or other performances to which the documents may relate. Article 5. Instructions to Issue/Amend Credits a. Instructions for the issuance of a Credit, the Credit itself, instructions for an amendment thereto, and the amendment itself, must be complete and precise. In order to guard against confusion and misunderstanding, banks should discourage any attempt i) to include excessive detail in the Credit or in any amendment thereto; ii) to give instructions to issue, advise or confirm a Credit by reference to a Credit previously issued (similar Credit) where such previous Credit has been subject to accepted amendment(s), and/or unaccepted amendment(s), b. All instructions for the issuance of a Credit and the Credit itself and, where applicable, all instructions for an amendment thereto and the amendment itself, must state precisely the document(s) against which payment, acceptance or negotiation is to be made. B. FORM AND NOTIFICATIOIN OF CREDITS Article 6. Revocable v. Irrevocable Credits a. A Credit may be either i) revocable, or ii) irrevocable. b. The Credit, therefore, should clearly indicate whether it is revocable or irrevocable. c. In the absence of such indication the Credit shall be deemed to be irrevocable. Article 7. Advising Banks Liability a. A Credit may be advised to a Beneficiary through another bank(the Advising Bank) without engagement on the part of the Advising Bank, but that bank, if it elects to advise the Credit, shall take reasonable care to check the apparent authenticity of the Credit which it advises. If the bank elects not to advise the Credit, it must so inform the Issuing Bank without delay. b. If the Advising Bank cannot establish such apparent authenticity it must inform, without delay, the bank from which the instructions appear to have been received that it has been unable to establish the authenticity of the Credit and if it elects nonetheless to advise the Credit it must inform the Beneficiary that it has not been able to establish the authenticity of the Credit. Article 8. Revocation of a Credit a. A revocable Credit may be amended or cancelled by the Issuing Bank at any moment and without prior notice to the Beneficiary. b. However, the Issuing Bank must: i) reimburse another bank with which a revocable Credit has been made available for sight payment, acceptance or negotiation-for any payment, acceptance or negotiation made by such bank-prior to receipt by it of notice of amendment or cancellation, against documents which appear on their face to be in compliance with the terms and conditions of the Credit, ii) reimburse another bank with which a