Law applicable to Distribution Contracts and Contracts of Sale – Relationship between Framework Agreement and Application Contracts

Distribution networks are widely used in the international trade as a tool for bringing another party’s products on to the market. However, in international business relations it may be difficult to establish the governing law for distribution agreements and contracts of sale. This article analyses the rules for determining the law applicable to distribution agreements and determines the impact of these rules and the law applicable to a distribution agreement on the applicable law for the sales contracts formed under the agreement. The thesis of the article is that the specific nature of distribution agreements manifesting itself in a bond between distributorship (as a framework agreement) and contracts of sale (as the application contracts) has implications for the determination of the applicable law for the sales contracts.