General terms and conditions
These are the General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter: “General Terms and Conditions”) of Sud-Fresh, with its registered office at Rue du Kiell 3, 6790 Aubange, and registered in the K.B.O. (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises) under number BE0830634061. (Hereinafter: “Sud-Fresh”).
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This transport agreement, whether national or international, is governed by the provisions of the CMR Convention and by these terms and conditions.
Any conflicting terms and conditions or instructions from the sender or the consignee shall not apply, unless they have been expressly accepted in writing by the carrier.
The signing of the consignment note by the loader, quay personnel, or freight forwarder binds the sender; the signing by stevedores, cargo handlers, or quay personnel at the destination binds the consignee.
The sender warrants for its contracting party, the consignee, that the latter is aware of and agrees to these terms and conditions; failing which, the sender shall reimburse the carrier for all costs and indemnify the carrier against any possible claims.
Loading – Unloading – Weight
Unless otherwise stated in writing, the parties explicitly agree that loading and unloading are performed by the sender and the consignee, respectively. To the extent that the driver is requested by the sender or the consignee to perform these actions, they are carried out under the express supervision, control, and responsibility of the sender or consignee. The carrier bears no liability for damage caused by and/or during loading and unloading.
Unless otherwise stated in writing and insofar as possible and/or necessary, stowage is performed by the carrier based on the instructions of the sender or loader, provided in accordance with applicable legislation for the specific route. If the vehicle used by the carrier or the stowage method proves unsuitable because incorrect or incomplete information was provided by the sender or loader, or if the transport packaging is not strong enough to allow for correct load securing, the resulting costs and damages shall be borne entirely by the sender.
Delivery takes place at the threshold or the quay of the buildings if no other location has been agreed upon.
The movement of the vehicle within the premises of the sender, loader, or consignee is done entirely on their instructions and under their responsibility. However, the carrier may oppose these instructions if, in its conviction, local conditions endanger the vehicle or the cargo.
If no authorized person is present at the agreed time of delivery, the carrier is instructed to unload the goods on-site. Delivery is then communicated by the carrier to the sender/client by any means, and the latter is deemed to have accepted this delivery without any reservation.
Unless the sender has explicitly requested the carrier to check the gross weight of the load within the meaning of Art. 8 §3 CMR, the sender remains responsible for any overloading, including axle overloading, detected during transport. The sender shall reimburse all resulting costs, including damage due to immobilization of the vehicle and any fines or other legal costs that may arise.
Instructions
The carrier's agents cannot accept any instructions or declarations that bind the carrier beyond the provided limits regarding:
The value of the goods to serve as a reference in case of total or partial loss, or damage (Art. 23 and 25 CMR);
Delivery deadlines (Art. 19 CMR);
Cash-on-delivery (COD) instructions (Art. 21 CMR);
A declaration of special value (Art. 24 CMR) or a special interest in delivery (Art. 26 CMR);
Instructions or declarations regarding dangerous goods (A.D.R.) or goods subject to special regulations.
Storage
In the event of storage by the carrier, the carrier is not liable for theft involving breaking and entering and/or violence, fire, explosion, lightning, aircraft impact, water damage, inherent defects of the goods and their packaging, hidden defects, or force majeure.
Liability is limited in all cases to a maximum of 8.33 Special Drawaing Rights (SDR) per kilogram of lost or damaged goods, with an absolute maximum of €25,000 per event or series of events with the same cause of damage. The carrier is not liable for any indirect damage, including economic loss, consequential damage, or non-material damage.
Immobilization Times
The carrier is entitled to compensation for the immobilization times of the road vehicle.
In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, it is assumed that the carrier covers one hour of loading and one hour of unloading. After this hour, the carrier is entitled to compensation for all costs arising from this additional immobilization time.
The carrier is furthermore entitled to compensation for all costs resulting from other immobilization times which, considering the circumstances of the transport, exceed the usual duration.
Liability
The carrier is only liable for damage to the transported goods in accordance with the applicable provisions of the CMR Convention.
If, during transport, damage is caused to other goods in the care of the sender, loader, or consignee (which are not the goods to be transported), the carrier is only liable for damage due to its own fault or negligence. In any case, and except in cases of intent, the scope of liability for damage to goods other than those being transported is limited to a maximum of 8.33 SDR per gross kg of the transported load.
Invoicing – Payments – Lien/Retention
The client is obliged to pay the freight price, even if they request the carrier to collect the freight price from the consignee.
In case of cancellation of a trip within 24 hours before the start of the trip, the full trip price remains due to the carrier.
The carrier may charge an additional fee for pallet exchange. The number of pallets to be exchanged accounts for a loss of 5%.
No set-off (compensation) may be applied between the freight price and any amounts claimed from the carrier.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the carrier's invoices are payable on the stated due date and without discount.
In the absence of payment of the invoice by its due date and without a notice of default being necessary, the outstanding amount will automatically yield interest at the rate provided for in the Law of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions.
When interest as mentioned above is due, the carrier is entitled, by law and without notice of default, to the payment of fixed compensation of a minimum of 10% of the unpaid amount. This 10% compensation does not exclude the granting of any legal costs or other proven collection costs.
In the absence of payment on the due date, all non-expired invoices also become immediately and fully due by law and without notice of default.
The carrier's various claims against the client, even if they relate to different shipments and to goods no longer in its possession, constitute a single and indivisible claim up to the amount of which the carrier may exercise all its rights and privileges.
Furthermore, the carrier may exercise a right of lien and/or retention on all materials and/or goods it sends, transports, stores, or has in its possession in any way, to cover all sums that the client owes or will owe for any reason whatsoever.
Notwithstanding any insolvency, assignment of claims, any form of attachment, or any concurrence of creditors, the carrier may apply set-off or debt novation to the obligations the carrier has toward its contracting party and those the latter has toward the carrier. This right is in no way affected by the notification or service of insolvency, assignment of claims, attachment, or concurrence.
Final Provisions
In the event of any dispute between the parties, and without prejudice to the application of Art. 31 §1 CMR, the courts of the carrier's registered office shall have jurisdiction. Belgian law applicable.
If one or more clauses of these general terms and conditions should, for any reason, be inapplicable, the remaining clauses shall nevertheless remain valid.
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