VIRA LOGISTICS & INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDING.All transactions entered into with us are subject to these conditions as well as the Algemene Belgische Expeditievoorwaarden (ABEV) 2024 (Belgian Freight Forwarders Standard Trading Conditions), as published and deposited in accordance with applicable Belgian regulations, or any subsequent version that may replace them.
The Company acts as freight forwarder and intermediary in accordance with applicable forwarding conditions, including the ABEV 2024, and where applicable, mandatory international transport conventions governing the mode of transport used.
For road transport, the provisions of the CMR Convention shall apply.
For air transport, the provisions of the Montreal Convention shall apply.
For sea transport, liability shall be governed by applicable maritime conventions and/or carrier bill of lading terms, including the Hague-Visby Rules where applicable.
The Company shall only be liable where its fault has been proven and finally established by a competent court.
Where liability is established, it shall be strictly limited to direct and foreseeable damages and shall in no event exceed the limits of liability applicable under mandatory law or, where applicable, the freight invoice value of the relevant shipment, whichever is lower.
The Company shall in no case be liable for indirect or consequential damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, loss of business, loss of market, or reputational damage, except where such exclusion is prohibited by mandatory law.
Any liability of the Company is strictly limited to acts or omissions directly attributable to its own proven fault and shall not extend to third parties engaged in the execution of transport or related services.
Definitions
Consignee: Means the entity whose name has been mentioned in the invoice as the buyer.
Shipper: Means the entity whose name has been inserted in the invoice as the seller of goods.
Customer: A customer may be the shipper, consignee or a third party; the third party includes forwarder, carrier or the agent on behalf of the consignee or shipper.
Cargos (Consignments):
- The goods that are shipped shall be properly and safely packaged. In case the commodities are not properly packaged, the Company shall be entitled to refrain from accepting the goods. In case of any repack by the company, the cost of such repack shall be received separately. If due to any reason packaging is refused by the carrier, VIRA Company shall have no responsibility in this regard.
- Dangerous goods shall be declared in the inquiry and all information and documents required for shipping the consignment shall be submitted in accordance with ADR, IMO and DGR regulations. Risk of the cost of dangerous goods shall be borne by the customer.
- All measures and activities shall be taken at cost and risk of the customer.
A) All measures such as checking, sampling, counting, measurement, goods acceptance, and legal inspection, as the case may require, shall be carried out at the request and according to the explicit instructions of the customer and reimbursement of all costs.
B) If, at discretion of the company and/or the company’s representative, the best interest of the customer is reserved through fulfillment of stages stipulated in Clause A, it is authorized to take all necessary measures at cost and risk of the customer. However, there is no obligation in this respect.
C) The company or the company’s representative does not act as an expert and it shall have no responsibility for conditions, nature and/or quality of the goods. It undertakes no responsibility for any inconformity of samples to the corresponding cargo.
D) The company shall have no responsibility for missing booking with the carrier due to reasons such as deficiency of shipper’s documents, inspection, customs declaration and the necessity for governmental legalization to permit shipment of goods to the destination and the corresponding costs for missing the booking, warehousing and the aforesaid items shall be borne by the customer.
Financial Affairs:
- At the time of inquiry or immediately after acceptance, the customer shall specify that the freight is paid on “prepaid” or “collect” basis. Nonetheless, the company has no obligation to necessarily accept the customer’s opinion in this regard and it shall be entitled to choose one of the two methods of “collect” or “prepaid” depending on the shipment.
- No claim may suspend or cancel payment of the corresponding invoice.
A) Failure to send the “delivery note” shall not result in failure to pay the invoice.
B) Any additional charges incurred in each shipment process shall be collected from the customer.
C) Invoice shall be settled within at most 48 hours after submission. In case of any delay in payment, probable compensations shall be collected accordingly.
- The type of currency of each invoice is specified and the customer shall pay the invoice into the corresponding type of currency; unless at the company’s discretion or upon mutual agreement, the corresponding amount shall be changed and received in another type of currency. Exchange rate shall be specified by the Company.
- 4. Shipment rate shall be noted in accordance with information in consideration of quantity, number of cargo announced, name and nature of goods indicated by the customer according to time given in the inquiry reply. In case of any changes in weight, quantity, number, name and nature of goods resulting in additional rate, payment of additional fee shall be borne by the customer. Moreover, after expiration of “Validity”, the corresponding rate will be calculated on daily count basis.
A) The company may refuse to ship the commodity due to changes made, in particular, the corresponding changes made in nature of goods.
B) Changes in costs caused by the measures of government, customs administration and carrier are beyond the company’s will and shall be borne by the customer.
C) Corresponding charges of third party such as charges of import and export, VAT, demurrage and detention charges of cargo, screening, customs inspection and/or miscellaneous costs during shipment process shall be borne by the customer.
D) Any additional charges demanded from the company or the company’s representative during shipment process shall be borne by the customer accordingly.
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The Company’s liability, if any, shall exist only where its fault has been finally and exclusively established by a competent court in Ghent-Belgium. No admission of liability shall be deemed or implied unless confirmed by such final court decision.
A) In case of any probable damage during the executive period or during the term of contract not attributed to the company and/or shipment agent, the company and/or the company’s representative, on behalf of the customer, shall be authorized to claim damage from the entity caused such damage and it is also entitled to claim the corresponding cost from the customer accordingly.
B) At the customer’s request for follow up and collection of compensation from the party caused the corresponding damage, the company shall be entitled to assign its right for follow up and collection of damage to the customer against the third party who caused such damage and the company shall have no responsibility in this regard.
C) If the carriers refuse to sign number of packages, weights and the ones, the company shall have no responsibility for the respective consequences and results.
Miscellaneous:
- No cargo insurance shall be arranged unless expressly requested by the Customer in writing via email.
- The customer is responsible for preparing and sending any information and documents required for shipment process in terms of nature of goods, type of goods and shipment terms to this company by email. In case the customer fails to submit complete documents at the beginning of shipment process due to any reason, it shall be held responsible for consequences thereof.
- Concerning imported and exported cargos, the documents submitted by the customer shall be compared to the respective documents provided by the consignee and/or shipper. In case of any inconsistency or inconformity resulting in delay or failure to accomplish shipment process, the customer shall be responsible for its consequences and all relevant costs.
- Upon confirmation, if at any time the customer requests for cancellation of shipment process, VIRA Company shall indicate the possibility or impossibility of cancellation through email considering the respective shipment stage. The customer shall pay the entire costs announced by the company and it shall be liable for the corresponding costs arising from cancellation. Moreover, if cancellation is requested by the customer, the company shall be entitled to inform the case to the consignee and shipper indicated in the goods invoice.
A) Cancellation request shall be made simultaneous with confirmation by the shipper, consignee and the customer. The corresponding costs shall be paid first and then the shipment to be cancelled accordingly.
B) During shipment process and depending on conditions, the company is not necessarily obligated to accept cancellation and the corresponding costs shall be totally paid by the customer.
- If during shipment process, the customer requests for transfer of consignment to a third party, cargo transfer form to be sent by the VIRA company shall be completed, signed and sealed by the shipper and consignee indicated in the goods invoice as well as the customer to be mailed to this company through official server email of companies. The customer shall be liable for all corresponding costs arising from cancellation.
- In case of arising any probable dispute in connection with interpretation or provisions of this contract, the case of dispute shall be settled amicably through parties’ necessary negotiations. If dispute is not settled through parties’ amicable negotiations, the courts of law located in Ghent, Belgium, shall have jurisdiction to settle the dispute.
General terms and conditions binding and effective for all inquiries and quotations:
– No cargo insurance policy shall be issued unless explicitly requested by the Client in writing via email for each shipment.
– The corresponding rate is offered based on information in terms of quantity, weight, dimensions, name and nature of goods indicated by the customer in consideration of booking time validity and any change in any of the aforesaid items shall result in change in price.
Price is quoted based on the assumption that the cargo is a “General Cargo” and “Stackable”; unless otherwise the customer explicitly indicates any other form.
– Quotation excludes probable charges, taxes and warehousing fee.
– Quotation excludes increase in warehousing fee due to coincidence of cargo arrival and public holidays, weekends, delay of shipper and customs formalities.
– Maximum loading time for groupage cargo is 15 minutes and for full truck is 2 hours for loading and discharging. Delay cost is 35 Euros per half an hour.
– Transit time is indicated approximately and any prolongation in this case shall not create any right for the customer.
– 50% of freight rate must be paid for the shipments that are cancelled within 12 hours prior to pickup of cargo from the shipper’s warehouse, and 30% of freight rate must be paid for the shipments that are cancelled within 24 hours prior to pick up, and no claim is accepted from the customer either.
– If “x-ray” or “screening” is not accepted, and if customs inspection, or “x-ray” or “screening” is required at discretion of the carrier or customs administration and/or the cargo should be sent to a special place for this purpose, the customer shall accept the corresponding terms and conditions and pay additional charges. Loss of booking due to this reason is not borne by VIRA Company.
