GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TRANSPORT OF GOODS
These General Conditions are available to our Customers both at the offices of Aduanas, Logística, Transportes e Intermediación en Unidades de Servicio, S.A. (ALTIUS, S.A.) and on our website www.grupoaltius.com.
1.- SCOPE OF APPLICATION
These General Conditions shall apply to all freight forwarding services requested from Aduanas, Logística, Transportes e Intermediación en Unidades de Servicio, S.A. (ALTIUS, S.A.), with registered office at Muelle de Reparaciones de Bouzas s/n, 36208 – Vigo, Spain (hereinafter, the “Forwarding Agent”) and tax identification number A-82303769, regardless of the means used to request them (whether by telephone, tele/fax, e-mail or any other means). This is without prejudice to those multimodal transport contracts in which it is expressly stated that they are subject to the General Terms and Conditions of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA).
2.- DEFINITIONS.
“Forwarder. The activity of ALTIUS is configured as that of a freight forwarder: that which consists, fundamentally, in the organization of the transportation of goods and other related activities. ALTIUS may use any means of transport and subagents to carry out the transport, which may be contracted in the name and on behalf of the Customer.
“Client”: Whoever has contracted the services of the Forwarder and is obliged to pay for the provision of such services. In the case of two different entities (one contracting the services and the other paying for them), both shall always and in any case be jointly and severally liable for the full payment of the services rendered by ALTIUS.
3.- ACCEPTANCE.
The Customer expressly agrees to submit any service contracted with the Forwarder to these General Conditions, even if no specific reference to these General Conditions is made in the service request.
The General Conditions shall be mentioned in the offers or proposals of the Forwarder. And its content will be, at all times, available to the Client as expressed above.
The Client also undertakes to inform third parties who may have contracted with him of the existence, validity, validity and acceptance of these General Conditions.
In case of non-acceptance of these General Terms and Conditions, the Customer shall expressly, in writing and unequivocally notify the Forwarder immediately after the first offer or proposal received. Seven days after receipt of the General Terms and Conditions without any manifestation to the contrary by the Forwarder, the General Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to be validly incorporated into the contractual relationship between the parties.
4.- GENERAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE CUSTOMER
The Client shall pay the Freight Forwarder the price for the services rendered in accordance with the terms contained in the latter’s offer or proposal. In the event of late payment, the Client shall be liable to pay the Forwarder interest for late payment equivalent to the legal interest rate in force at any given time, increased by two percentage points. Likewise, the Customer shall be obliged to assume the damages caused to the Forwarder or its agents by its delay, including the possible damage due to currency exchange fluctuation, the bank charges borne and any other economic damage suffered for such reason. The Client expressly waives any right of retention or set-off on the amounts due to the Forwarder.
4.2.- The Client guarantees to the Forwarder:
– The accuracy of the declaration of the goods with respect to their characteristics, description, markings, number, quantity, weight and volume.
– The suitability and aptitude of both the goods themselves and their packaging for the correct performance of the contracted service.
– The consideration, if applicable, of the nature of the goods as flammable, explosive or dangerous nature of the goods and the delivery of the corresponding safety data sheet of the goods. The Customer and/or the sender are solely responsible for complying with current legislation, both in terms of packaging, documentation, markings, waybills and any other requirement that may be necessary for the transport of the aforementioned goods.
– Timely compliance with the requirements of prior information and documentation necessary for the export and/or import of the goods to the country of destination, as may be required by the competent authorities from time to time.
In any case, the Client shall be liable for all losses, damages, breakdowns, penalties and/or expenses that the Forwarder or a third party may incur as a result of omissions, inaccuracies or delays in the information provided by the Client and/or defective or inadequate packaging, expressly including, if applicable, extraordinary costs generated by the need to reorganize or redesign the contracted services.
In addition, the Forwarder reserves the right to make, at the time of receipt of the goods, the reservations it deems convenient or necessary. In the event of omission or insufficient information, the Forwarder shall also be entitled to, prior to unloading and according to the circumstances, unload, destroy or neutralize the goods, being exempt from any liability for this reason and without the Customer or the consignee of the goods being entitled to any compensation for this concept.
5.- GENERAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE FREIGHT FORWARDER.
5.1.- The Forwarder undertakes to organize at its own discretion the transport, handling, carriage and storage of the goods entrusted to it, in the most appropriate manner and with due diligence, unless it receives express instructions from the Client as to how to organize any of the aforementioned services.
5.2.- For the purposes of organizing the services described in paragraph 5.1 above, and unless otherwise instructed by the Client, the Forwarder may select and contract with third parties acting in their capacity as freight forwarders, carriers, warehouse operators, customs agents and others required for the transport, storage, handling and delivery of goods, all of which shall be considered independent agents of the Forwarder. The Forwarder shall contract, as far as possible, the provision of such services with those companies or firms that are subject to the International Agreements in force.
Goods shall be entrusted to such third parties subject to such terms and conditions, such as limitations of liability for loss, damage, expense or delay in delivery, as are set forth in the waybills, bills of lading and receipts issued by such forwarders, carriers, warehouse operators and others.
6.- LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
ALTIUS shall only be liable to the customer or a third party for loss and/or damage to the goods resulting from a breach of its contractual obligations. In any case, such liability, as well as any other liability that may arise from a delay in the delivery of the goods, shall be limited to the amounts resulting from the application to each specific case of the carrier’s own liability limits of the regulations applicable to each mode of transport, the sum of which may never exceed the total value of the goods.
The regulations applicable to each mode of transport shall be as follows:
– National maritime transport: Law 14/2014 of July 24, 2014, on Maritime Navigation.
– International Maritime Transport: Hague-Visby Rules (Brussels International Convention of August 25, 1924, for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Knowledge, as amended by the 1968 and 1979 Protocols). However, when the Bill of Lading of the shipping line refers to the US COSGA, in shipments to or from the United States, then the provisions set forth in said Act shall govern under the terms set forth in the same Bill of Lading.
– National land transportation and multimodal transportation: Law 15/2009, of November 11, 2009, on the contract of land transportation of goods.
– International Land Transport: Convention governing the contract for the international carriage of goods by road (CMR), done at Geneva on May 19, 1956, and its Protocol of June 5, 1978.
– National air transportation: Law 48/1960, of July 21, 1960, on Air Navigation, and subsequent revisions.
– International Air Transport: Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, done at Montreal on May 28, 1999.
– National rail transport: Law 15/2009, of November 11, 2009, on the contract of land transport of goods.
– International Rail Transport: Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) of May 9, 1980, together with its protocols and subsequent amendments.
7.- EXONERATION OF LIABILITY.
ALTIUS shall be exonerated from any liability if the damage and/or harm claimed against it originates from information provided by the customer, or from instructions given by the latter, or from operations carried out by the customer or by its subcontractors. Likewise, ALTIUS shall be exonerated from any damage and/or harm that takes place outside the period of custody that it has assumed or when it occurs within the scope of operations that it has not performed. Likewise, ALTIUS shall be exonerated from liability in cases of force majeure and in any other cases that are regulated by the current regulations applicable in each specific case.
In no event and under no circumstances shall ALTIUS be liable for any damages and/or losses related to loss of profits and/or customers, penalties, taxes, fees, fines, penalty clauses and/or linked to customer contracts with third parties, depreciation of goods and/or currency exchange fluctuations.
INSURANCE.
8.1.- The Forwarder shall not insure against loss or damage that may be caused to the goods during handling, storage or transport, unless specifically instructed in writing by the Client. In this case, the Forwarder will proceed to take out the appropriate insurance on behalf of the Client.
8.2.- In the event that insurance coverage has been taken out at the Client’s request:
8.2.1.- The terms and conditions of the insurance shall be those set forth in the insurance policy contracted, which shall be available to the Client at its express request.
8.2.2.- The Forwarder shall not be liable for any possible disputes or claims that may arise between the Client and the insurance company contracted as a result of the insurance of the goods.
8.2.3.- To calculate the value to be insured, the Client shall take into account all costs affecting the goods, including expenses at destination and delivery of the goods to the place of destination.
9.- CLAIMS.-
9.1.- At the time of delivery of the goods, the consignees shall verify the conditions in which the goods are found, as well as that the quantity, number and weight of the packages correspond to the data consigned in the documentation relating to the transport, and shall immediately inform the Forwarder of any apparent defect or loss in any piece.
9.2.- In the event that any irregularity, damage and/or loss is not immediately observed by the receiver of the goods, the latter shall record his reservations in writing under the terms, deadlines and conditions established in the regulations applicable to each mode of transport and which are set forth in General Condition 6.
9.3.- The time limits for initiating an action against the Forwarder shall be those established in the regulations applicable to each mode of transport and which are set out in General Condition 6.
Under no circumstances may payment of invoices due to the Freight Forwarder, including costs and expenses, be withheld as a result of claims or claims arising from reservations made by the Client for alleged loss or damage to the goods.
10.- RIGHT OF RETENTION.
Irrespective of any reason whatsoever, the Forwarder is entitled in general and in particular to retain the transported goods of Customers who have not paid the amounts due to them for the services entrusted to him. The forwarder may assert this right by any means they deem appropriate and admissible under the law.
The Customer shall be liable for any damage or deterioration suffered by the goods, especially if they are perishable, due to the lien or notarial file that the Forwarder or its agents have had to carry out.
If the goods are lost or destroyed, the Forwarder shall have the same rights as mentioned above with respect to the indemnities to be paid by insurance companies, transport companies or others.
11.- CURRENT LAW AND JURISDICTION.
The services contracted and/or rendered by the Forwarder are subject to current Spanish law, and any dispute arising from or related to them shall be finally settled by the ordinary Spanish courts having jurisdiction.
The only exception to this general rule will occur when: (i) the services contracted and/or rendered by the Forwarder are related to international maritime transport and, in addition, (ii) the entity with which Altius has a dispute is foreign (not Spanish). In the event of both circumstances, there will be a submission to the English Law in force and the disputes will be resolved by Arbitration in London under the terms of the LMAA (London Maritime Arbitrators Association).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in transports to or from the United States, the provisions of the US COGSA shall apply in accordance with the terms contained in the bills of lading of the respective shipping lines.
12.- INDEPENDENCE.
The terms of these General Terms and Conditions are independent of each other. In the event that any part of these Conditions is declared null and void by a judge or institution of sufficient competence and capacity, the remaining terms of these Conditions shall remain in full force and effect.
