ICC Principles to Facilitate Commercial Negotiation

Business in an integrated world economy brings together negotiating partners from very different cultures and business traditions, with different interests and a wide range of negotiating styles and experience. While this rich variety is a foundation of today’s vibrant trading community, it also increases the chances for costly misunderstandings that impede the smooth flow of business. In keeping with its mission to promote efficient and effective global trade, ICC has consulted with negotiators from businesses large and small, across sectors and around the world, to develop the following set of principles to help facilitate the process of commercial negotiations.

In keeping with its mission to promote efficient and effective global trade, ICC has consulted with negotiators from businesses large and small, across sectors and around the world, to develop the following set of principles to help facilitate the process of commercial negotiations.

Directed at small, medium or large businesses across many sectors, the International Chamber of Commerce Principles to Facilitate Commercial Negotiation are a short set of principles to help negotiators conduct smooth and efficient commercial negotiations.

In today’s multicultural business world, it can often be challenging for parties to come to a successful mutual agreement due to dissimilarities in interests, legal practice, traditions or negotiating styles and experience.

The International Chamber of Commerce Principles have been built around the idea that a successful negotiation should be based on the values of respect and trust, as well as mutual interest. They have been developed with the help of international negotiating experts and can be used in the context of a wide variety of different business deals.

The Principles may be used as a checklist of considerations to take into account when preparing for a negotiation, as a basic set of guidelines to agree on with negotiating partners, or a benchmark for guiding a party’s own conduct during the negotiation process, with the aim of concluding sustainable business deals that confer the advantages of international trade on all parties.

Every deal and set of negotiating parties is different, and the ICC Principles may be useful in different ways for different deals. The Principles may be used as:

• a checklist of considerations for a party to take into account during preparation for and conduct of negotiations
• a basic set of guidelines the parties can agree to use as a reference point for the conduct of negotiations
• a benchmark for guiding a party’s own conduct during negotiations.