SWIFT UCP 600 Usage Guidelines
During its 24-25 October 2006 meeting, the ICC Commission on Banking Technique and Practice approved new UCP 600 rules for documentary credits. These rules will take effect on 1 July 2007. With the purpose to remain aligned with the new UCP 600 from this date onward, the 'SWIFT UCP 600 Guidelines' provide guidance to banks on how to use today’s category 7 standards in compliance with UCP 600
SWIFT UCP 600 Usage Guidelines
Exceptional update to achieve alignment
Published on 12 January 2007
During its 24-25 October 2006 meeting, the ICC Commission on Banking Technique and Practice
approved new UCP 600 rules for documentary credits. These rules will take effect on 1 July 2007.
With the purpose to remain aligned with the new UCP 600 from this date onward, the 'SWIFT
UCP 600 Guidelines' provide guidance to banks on how to use today’s category 7 standards in
compliance with UCP 600.
Traditionally, SWIFT groups all its MT standards changes in one annual standards release,
usually in October or November. In 2007, this will be on 27 October. In other words, the 1 July
2007 effective date of the UCP 600 does not coincide with the implementation date of SWIFT’s
Standards Release 2007.
This means that the only way to let the ICC and SWIFT ‘live’ dates coincide and to publish how
the UCP 600 affects category 7 standards was by issuing 'SWIFT UCP 600 Guidelines' that
financial institutions can start using as soon as the UCP 600 rules go ‘live’. All guidelines are
based on the use of narrative text in existing fields. This should ensure a seamless transition to
the new rules.
The November 2006 SWIFT release caters for the UCP 600 using today’s existing category 7
messages. A new mandatory field 40E Applicable Rules contains codes to indicate adherence to
specific rules. Other changes as described below will be implemented in October 2007.
James Wills, Head of Trade Services Standards Development at SWIFT notes, “The difference
in dates for UCP 600 (1 July 2007) and the annual SWIFT Standards Release (November 2006
and October 2007) has provided something of a challenge. However, SWIFT has worked with the
industry to develop this approach to managing the issue, so that the community will be able to
work successfully with the dates and guidelines.”
The SWIFT UCP 600 Guidelines will be reflected in the official Standards Release 2007
documentation (Standards Release Guide and User Handbook) of 27 October 2007.
Changes that financial institutions can use from 1 July 2007
1. Date and place for presentation of documents under a credit
a) Field 31D “Date and Place of Expiry” of the MT 700, 705, 710, 720 and 740 The definition of
this field should be interpreted as follows: “This field specifies the latest date for presentation
under the documentary credit and the place where documents may be presented.” This guideline
does not change the usage of this field.
b) Field 41a “Available With... By...” of the MT 700, 705, 710 and 720 The definition of this field
should be interpreted as follows: “This field identifies the bank with which the documentary credit
is available (the place for presentation) and an indication of how the credit is available.” This
guideline does not change the usage of this field.
2. Expiry dates in reimbursement authorizations (or amendments thereof)
a) Field 31D “Date and Place of Expiry” of the MT 740 The following usage rule should be added:
“This field should not be used to specify the latest date for presentation of a reimbursement claim
or an expiry date for the reimbursement authorization.”
b) Field 72 “Sender to Receiver Information” of the MT 740 The following usage rule should be
added: “Any latest date for a reimbursement claim or an expiry date for the reimbursement
authorization should be indicated in this field and not in field 31D.
c) Field 31E “New Date of Expiry” of the MT 747 The following usage rule should be added: “This
field should not be used to specify a new latest date for presentation of a reimbursement claim or
a new expiry date for the reimbursement authorization.”
d) Field 72 “Sender to Receiver Information” of the MT 747 The following usage rule should be
added: “Any new latest date for a reimbursement claim or a new expiry date for the
reimbursement authorization should be indicated in this field and not in field 31E.”
3. Details about the disposal of documents in a notice of refusal
Any details regarding the disposal of documents for which the two existing code words “HOLD”
and “RETURN” in field 77B “Disposal of Documents” of the MT 734 Notice of Refusal cannot be
used, must reflect the content of article 16.c of UCP 600 as follows:
a) The code word “NOTIFY”, to signify that “The issuing bank is holding the documents until it
receives a waiver from the applicant and agrees to accept it, or receives further instructions from
the presenter prior to agreeing to accept a waiver.”
b) The code word “PREVINST”, to signify that “The bank is acting in accordance with instructions
previously received from the presenter.”
Because the contents (including code words) of field 77B “Disposal of Documents” of the
MT 734 are not centrally validated (ie, checked) by SWIFTNet, users may start using the
above codes as of 1 July 2007 (live date of UCP 600). Alternatively, field 77B may contain a
narrative text, reflecting the content of article 16.c of UCP 600.
Please refer to the usage guidelines section of field 77B of the MT 734 for further details
