theelectronic communication ofdatahasnotbeenfataltoeitherthe continued growthofelectronic commercial practices orthecontinued vitality oftheCodeitself••.•Yettheexistence ofalessthanideal fit..•hashadanimpactuponadoption ofEDIincommercial use."31/ Thisremarkmaybeapplied tomostnational legislation wherelegalissuesmay havetobereconsidered withaviewtotheaccommodation ofEDI. 11.OTHERLEGALISSUES RELATED TOTHEFORMATION OFCONTRACTS A.Acknowledgement ofreceipt ofmessages 48.Asignificant feature ofEDIisthataprompt andreliable acknowledgement thatamessage hasbeenreceived ispossible foran insignificant cost.At some greater cost,resulting frommoreextensive computer processing, itispossible toverifythatthemessage hasbeen received intactwithout communication errors. At astillgreater cost, encryption techniques areavailable thatpermit, inasingleoperation, the verification ofboththenon-alteration ofthemessage andthecertain identity ofthesender(seeparagraphs 55-56below). 49.Several oftherulesandmodelcommunication agreements recently developed include special provisions encouraging systematic useof"functional acknowledgements" andverification procedures. Acknowledgement ofreceipt merelyconfirms thattheoriginal message isinthepossession ofthe receiving partyandisnottobeconfused withanydecision onthepartofthe receiving partyastoagreement withthecontent ofthemessage. Nevertheless, anacknowledgement ofreceipt servestoeliminate manyofthe problems thathavelongbeendebated whencontracts havebeenconcluded by distant parties. B.Authentication ofmessages 50.Although anauthentication procedure required bylawmustbeintheform prescribed, anauthentication methodrequired bytheparties canconsist of anymarkorprocedure theyagreeuponassufficient toidentify themselves to oneanother.A/CN.9/333 English Page14 51.The 1985 UNCITRAL recommendation (seeparagraph 2above)alsoidentified thelegalrequirements ofahandwritten signature orotherpaper-based method ofauthentication asanobstacle toEDI.Inlinewiththisrecommendation and a1979recommendation bytheECEWorking PartyonFacilitation of International TradeProcedures, whichhadexpressed asimilar concern, 32/ efforts arebeingmade by theTEDISgroupwithintheEECtoencourage the removal ofmandatory requirements forhandwritten signatures innational legislation. Similar efforts arebeingmadeinanumberofothercountries. 52.Inspiteofsuchefforts, themostcommon formofauthentication required bynational lawsremains asignature, whichisusually understood tomeanthe manualwriting byanindividual ofhisnameorinitials. Legalsystems increasingly permittherequired signatures ofsomeoralldocuments tobe made by stamps, symbol, facsimile, perforation orbyothermechanical or electronic means. Thistrendismostevident inthelawgoverning transport ofgoods,wherealltheprincipal multilateral conventions thatrequire a signature onthetransport document permitthatsignature tobemadeinsome wayotherthanbymanualsignature. 33/ 53.However, itcanberecalled that,eventhoughmanualsignature, orits physical reproduction bymechanical orothermeans,isfamiliar and inexpensive andserveswellfortransaction documents passing between known parties, itisfarfrombeingthemostefficient orthemostsecuremethodof authentication. 34/Amanualsignature canbeforgedandastampcanbe applied byanyoneintowhosepossession itcomes. Thepersonrelying onthe documents oftenhasneither thenameofthepersons authorized tosignnor specimen signatures available forcomparison. Thisisparticularly trueof manydocuments relieduponinforeign countries ininternational trade transactions. Evenwhereaspecimen oftheauthorized signature isavailable forcomparison, onlyanexpertmay beabletodetect acareful forgery. Where largenumberofdocuments areprocessed, signatures aresometimes noteven compared exceptforthemostimportant transactions. 54.Some new techniques havebeendeveloped toauthenticate electronically transmitted documents. Asregards identification ofthetransmitting machines, telexandcomputer-to-computer telecommunications oftenemploycall4It backprocedures andtestkeystoverifythesourceofthemessage. Where cryptography isnotforbidden bylaw,analgorithm canbeusedforthecoding
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the legal and technical aspects of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in the context of international trade. It highlights the importance of acknowledgement of receipt and authentication of messages in EDI transactions. The text also touches on the need for harmonization of national legislation to facilitate EDI adoption. Given the focus on EDI and international trade, it is likely that the text is related to the field of transport and communication.

**Category**
Transport and communication, International trade