Chamber of Foreign Trade

The Chamber for Foreign Trade (KfA) was an organization of the companies involved in the export of goods ( foreign trade companies ) and organs of the GDR .

founding

Since the conclusion of state trade agreements - especially with western states - proved to be difficult for the GDR, the Foreign Trade Chamber was founded on November 14, 1952 in East Berlin from the Ministry for Foreign Trade and Internal German Trade . The general supervision of the KfA was incumbent on the Ministry for Foreign Trade and Internal German Trade (until 1967) and the Ministry for Foreign Trade, but the KfA was formally a "social organization" of foreign trade companies, combines , export companies and the organs of the GDR involved in foreign trade .

Function and development

The main task of the KfA was initially to establish contacts with business partners in western countries and to conclude trade agreements below the government level (so-called chamber agreements ) with western countries. With the establishment of trade and chamber representations in western countries, but also in developing countries, the GDR tried to counter the diplomatic blockade through the Hallstein doctrine and "to achieve working conditions that came as close as possible to those in diplomatic representations". Up until the early 1970s, the GDR managed to establish stable (commercial) political contacts in a large number of countries through the chamber representations and to create a basic structure on which - in the course of the international recognition of the GDR - the GDR quickly set up and embassies from 1972 could start normal diplomatic work.

At first, the KfA was of little importance for the structuring of relations with the socialist countries. With the onset of the wave of recognition, which made chamber representations in western and developing countries superfluous as a substitute for diplomatic representations, the situation changed. From then on, the GDR endeavored to intensify its contacts with the chambers of commerce of the Comecon states and to contribute to “socialist economic integration”.

resolution

In June 1990 the KfA Presidium passed the resolution to dissolve the Chamber by the end of August 1990.

structure

The highest body of the KfA was the general assembly, which elected the Presidium, the President, the Vice-Presidents and the Revision Commission of the KfA.

The KfA maintained a commercial arbitration court for the settlement of commercial law disputes in the settlement of foreign trade as well as district offices in the individual districts of the GDR.

Arbitration board

The court of arbitration at the Chamber of Foreign Trade ( SG-KfA for short ) existed from 1954 to 1990. The presidents were Heinz Such from 1956 , Osmar Spitzner from 1959 , Such again from 1968 and Heinz Strohbach from 1973. The Ordinance on Arbitration Proceedings (SGVO) formed a procedural framework . In relation to contractual partners from COMECON states, it was a matter of a statutory arbitration tribunal (“compulsory arbitrage”), and the uniform law of the COMECON was applied (ALB / COMECON and similar regulations). In relation to western contractual partners it formed the institutional framework for a contractual (“real”) arbitration tribunal; (if material found conflict of laws was GDR law called) initially HGB and BGB , in 1976 the law on international commercial contracts (GIW) application. The arbitral awards were also enforced in western countries. In 1973 there was an arbitration between Unitechna Außenhandelsgesellschaft mbH and a US company.

Collection of decisions: From the rulings of the arbitral tribunal at the Chamber for Foreign Trade of the German Democratic Republic (1954–1984, ZDB -ID 1181718-5 ).

In March 1990 the name was changed to Berlin Arbitration Court . With the dissolution of the Chamber for Foreign Trade, the Association for the Promotion of Arbitration was founded. V. (VFS) designated as the carrier. After reunification , however, the Berlin Arbitration Court could not take the place of the arbitration court at the Chamber for Foreign Trade: contractual arbitration agreements in favor of the SG-KfA came into effect according to § 1033 No. 1 ZPO a. F. out of force, and the legal competence could not be transferred to the arbitration tribunal of a private association. In 1994 the VFS was merged with the DIS .

Publications

The chamber issued numerous publications, such as the GDR Economic Review , GDR Export , Handbook of Foreign Trade and Trading Partners GDR .

President of the KfA

• Gottfried Lessing (1952–1957)
• Reinhold Fleschhut (1957–1958)
• Fritz Koch (1958–1962)
• Hans Bahr (1962–1968)
• Rudolf Murgott (1968–1981)
• Otto Weitkus (1981–1984)
• Hans-Joachim Lemnitzer (1984–1990)

Similar facilities

country	year	chamber	Arbitration board	place
GDR	1954	Chamber of Foreign Trade (KfA)	Arbitration board	Berlin, Schadowstrasse 1b
Soviet Union	1932	Торгово-промышленная палата (ТПП) СССР Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the USSR	Внешне-торговая арбитражная комиссия Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission	Moscow, ul.Kuibysheva 6
Poland	1949	Polska Izba Handlu Zagranicznego Polish Chamber of Foreign Trade	Colegium Arbitrów Referees College	Warsaw, ul.Trebacka 4
ČSSR	1952	Československá obchodní komora Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce	Rozhodčí soud Arbitration Court	Prague 7, Argentinska 38
Hungary	1953?	Magyar Kereskedelmi Kamara Hungarian Chamber of Commerce	Választottbíróság arbitration court	Budapest, Kossuth tér 6–8
Romania	1953	Camera de Comerţ a RSR Chamber of Commerce of the SRR	Comisia de arbitraj Arbitration Commission	Bucharest, Blvd. N. Balcescu 22
Bulgaria	1952	Българска търговска палата Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce	Външнотърговска арбитражна комисия Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission	Sofia, Blvd. A. Stambolijski 11a
Mongolia	1960	Монголын үндэсний танхим Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce	Гадаад худалдааны арбитр Foreign trade arbitrage	Ulaanbaatar, 24 Nairamdal Street
Cuba	1976?	Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba	Corte de Arbitraje de Comercio Exterior Court of Arbitration for Foreign Trade	Havana, Vedado , Calle 21 No. 661
Yugoslavia	1946	Савезна привредна комора Federal Chamber of Commerce	Спољнотрговинска арбитража Foreign trade arbitrage	Belgrade, Knez Mihailova 10
Albania	1959	Dhoma e Tregtisë Chamber of Commerce	Arbitrazhi i Tregtisë së Jashtme Foreign trade arbitrage	Tirana, 6 Rruga e Kavajës
China	1954	中国 国际 贸易 促进 委员会 - Chinese Committee for the Promotion of International Trade	对外贸易 仲裁 委员会 Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission	Beijing, Xicheng , 2 Huapichang Hutong
North Korea	1955	북한 국제 무역 진흥 위원회 - Korean Committee for the Promotion of International Trade	Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission	Pyongyang, Chung-guyŏk , Chungsŏng-dong

literature

• Chamber of Foreign Trade . In: Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): GDR manual . 3rd and exp. Edition. Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Cologne 1984, pp. 706f.
• Chamber of Foreign Trade . In: Andreas Herbst , Winfried Ranke and Jürgen Winkler (eds.): This is how the GDR worked . Volume 1: Lexicon of Organizations and Institutions . Reinbek near Hamburg, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag 1994, p. 464f.
• Ingrid Muth : The GDR Foreign Policy 1949–1972. Contents, structures, mechanisms . 2nd Edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2001, passim.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ingrid Muth: The GDR foreign policy 1949-1972. Contents, structures, mechanisms . 2nd Edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2001, p. 82f.
2. ↑ KfA Statute 1974 § 5
3. ↑ of December 18, 1975 ( Journal of Laws I 1976 No. 1 p. 8 )
4. ↑ cf. also Moscow Convention of May 26, 1972 ( Journal of Laws of I No. 13, p. 220 )
5. ↑ General conditions for the delivery of goods between the organizations of the member countries of the Comecon (most recently Journal of Laws II 1989 No. 4 p. 41 )
6. ↑ cf. Legal Application Act of December 5, 1975 ( Journal of Laws of I No. 46, p. 748 ; trans-lex.org )
7. ↑ GBl. I 1976 No. 5 p. 61 ( trans-lex.org )
8. ↑ see e.g. Swiss Federal Court , BGE 93 I 265 (1967)
9. ↑ Der Spiegel 3/1973 and 4/1973 ; Eastern Europe Report 1973 p. 42
10. ↑ BGHZ 125, 7 (1994)
11. ↑ BGHZ 128, 380 (1995) pending before reunification; BGH - judgment of March 26, 1998 (VII ZR 123/96) pending after reunification
12. ↑ Désirée Cimmino: The UNCITRAL model law on international ADR proceedings in economic disputes (2008), p. 57, fn. 173
13. ↑ Handbook of Arbitration , 2nd edition 1990, p. 528 f. ; The general delivery conditions of the COMECON 1968 in the rulings of socialist foreign trade arbitration courts , 1975, p. 403
14. ↑ Постановление о внешне-торговой арбитражной комиссии при Всесоюзной торговой палате (1932); Harry Fellhauer: The foreign trade merchant and the courts of arbitration , 1959, p. 67
15. ↑ Гадаад худалдааны арбитрын тухай хууль (1995), Төрийн мэдээлэл 1996 №1 / 44 /