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PART I: General
1. Conditions Application
(A) Subject to sub-clause
(B) below, all services of the Company whether gratuitous or not are subject
to these Conditions.
(i)The provisions of Part I shall apply to all such services
(ii)The provisions of Part ll shall only apply to the extent that such
services are provided by the Company as agents.
(iii)The provisions of Part lll shall only apply to the extent that such
services are provided by the Company as principals.
(B) Where a document bearing a title of or including "bill of lading"
(whether or not negotiable), or "waybill" is issued by or on behalf of
the Company and provides that the Company contracts as carrier, the provisions
set out in such document shall be paramount in so far as such provisions
are inconsistent with these Conditions.
(C) Every variation, cancellation or waiver of these Conditions must be
in writing signed by a Director of the Company. Notice is hereby given
that no other person has or will be given any authority whatsoever to
agree to any variation, cancellation or waiver of these Conditions.
2.All services are provided by the Company as agents
except in the following circumstances where the Company acts as principal:
(A) where the company performs any carriage, handling or storage of Goods
but only to the extent that the carriage is performed by the Company itself
or its servants and the Goods are in the actual custody and control of
the Company, or
(B) where prior to the commencement of the carriage of Goods the Customer
in writing demands from the Company particulars of the identity, services
or charges of persons instructed by the Company to perform part or all
of the carriage, the Company shall be deemed to be contracting as a principal
in respect of that part of the carriage in respect of which the Company
fails to give such particulars demanded within 28 days of the Company's
receipt of such demand, or
(C) to the extent that the Company expressly agrees in writing to act
as a principal, or
(D) to the extent that the Company is held by a court of law to have acted
as a principal.
3.Without prejudice to the generality of clause 2,
(A) the charging by the Company of a fixed price for a service or services
of whatsoever nature shall not in itself determine or be evidence that
the Company is acting as an agent or a principal in respect of such service
or services.
(B) the supplying by the Company of their own or leased equipment shall
not in itself determine or be evidence that the Company in acting as agent
or a principal in respect ofany carriage, handling or storage of Goods;
(C) the Company acts as an agent where the Company procures a bill of
lading or other document evidencing a contract of carriage between a person,
other than the Company, and the Customer or Owner;
(D) the Company acts as an agent and never as a principal when providing
services in respect of or relating to customs requirements, taxes, licenses,
consular documents, certificates of origin, inspection, certificates and
other similar services.
4. Definitions
In these conditions
(A) "Company" is Ellery Freight and or its subsidiary companies.
(B) "Customer" means any person at whose request or on whose behalf the
Company provides a service;
(C) "Person" includes persons or any body or bodies corporate;
(D) "Owner" includes the owner, shipper and consignee of the Goods and
any other person who is or may become interested in the Goods and anyone
acting on their behalf;
(E) "Authority" A duly constituted legal or administrative person, acting
within its legal powers and exer cising jurisdiction within any nation,
state, municipality, port or airport;
(F) "Goods" includes the cargo and any container not supplied by or on
behalf of the Company, in respect of which the Company provides a service;
(G) "Container" includes any container, flexitank, trailer, transportable
tank, flat, pallet or any article of transport used to carry or consolidate
goods and any equipment of or connected thereto,
(H) "Dangerous Goods" includes goods which are or may become of a dangerous,
inflammable, radio-active or damaging nature and goods likely to harbour
or encourage vermin or other pests,
(I) "Hague-Rules" means the provisions of the International Convention
for the Unification of certain rules Relating to Bills of Lading signed
at Brussels on 25th August 1924,
(J) "Instructions" means a statement of the Customers specific requirements,
(K) "Valuable Cargoes" means cigarettes, spirits, precious metal objects,
precious jewellery, valuable works of art and thoroughbred horses.
Obligations of Customer
5.The Customer warrants that he is either the Owner
or the authorised agent of the Owner of the Goods and that he is authorised
to accept and is accepting these Conditions not only for himself but also
as agent for and on behalf of the Owner of the Goods.
6.The Customer warrants that he has reasonable knowledge
of matters affecting the conduct of his business, including but not limited
to the terms of sale and purchase of the Goods and all other matters relating
thereto.
7.The Customer shall give sufficient and executable
instructions.
8.The Customer warrants that the description and particulars
of the Goods are complete and correct.
9.The Customer warrants that the Goods are properly
packed and labelled , except where the Company has accepted instructions
in respect of such Services.
10. Special Instructions, Goods and Services
(A) Unless otherwise previously agreed in writing, the Customer shall
not deliver to the Company or cause the Company to deal with or handle
Dangerous Goods
(B) If the Customer is in breach of sub-clause (A) above he shall be liable
for all loss or damage whatsoever caused by or to or in connection with
the Goods howsoever arising and shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless
the Company against all penalties, claims, damages, costs and expenses
whatsoever arising in connection therewith and the goods may without notice
be destroyed or otherwise dealt with at the sole discretion of the Company
or any other person in whose custody they may be at the relevant time
(C) lf the Company agrees to accept Dangerous Goods and then in the opinion
of the Company or any other person they constitute a risk to other goods,
property, life or health they may without notice be destroyed or otherwise
dealt with at the expense of the Customer or Owner.
11.The Customer undertakes not to tender for transportation
any Goods which require temperature control without previously giving
written notice of their nature and particular temperature range to be
maintained and in the case of a temperature controlled Container stuffed
by or on behalf of the Customer further undertakes that the Container
has been properly pre-cooled or pre-heated as appropriate, that the Goods
have been properly stuffed in the Container, and that its thermostatic
controls have been properly set by the Customer. If the above requirements
are not complied with the Company shall not be liable for any loss of
or damage to the Goods caused by such non-compliance.
12.No insurance shall be effected except upon express
instructions given in writing by the Customer and all insurances effected
by the Company ar e subject to the usual exceptionsand conditions of the
policies of the insurance company or underwriters taking the risk. Unless
otherwise agreed in writing, the Company shall not be under any obligation
to effect a separate insurance on each consignment but may declare it
on any open or general policy. The Company is an agent in respect of the
effecting of insurance and should the insurers dispute their liability
for any reason the insured shall have recourse against the insurers only
and the Company shall not be under any responsibility or liability whatsoever
in relation thereto notwithstanding that the premium upon the policy may
not be at the same rate as that charged by the Company or paid to the
Company by its customers.
13.Except in accordance with express instructions previously
received in writing and accepted in writing by the Company, the Company
shall not be obliged to make any declaration for the purposes of any Statute,
convention or contract as to the nature or value of any Goods or as to
any special interest in delivery.
14.Unless otherwise previously agreed in writing or
otherwise provided for under the provisions of a document signed by the
Company, instructions relating to the delivery or release of Goods against
payment or against surrender of a particular document shall be in writing
and the Company's liability shall not exceed that provided for in respect
of misdelivery of Goods.
I5.Unless otherwise previously agreed in writing that
the Goods shall depart or arr ive by a particular date, the Company accepts
no responsibility for depar ture or arrival dates of Goods.
16. General Indemnities
(A) The Customer and Owner shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the
Company against all liability, loss, damage, costs and expenses arising
(i) from the nature of the goods unless caused by the Company's negligence,
(ii) out of the Company acting in accordance with the Customer's or Owner's
instructions, or
(iii) arising from a breach of warranty or obligation by the Customer
or arising from the negligence of the Customer or Owner.
(B) Except to the extent caused by the Company's negligence the Customer
and Owner shall be liable for and shall defend indemnify and hold harmless
the Company in respect of all duties, taxes, imposts, levies, deposits
and outlays of whatsoever nature levied by any Authority and for all payments,
fines, costs, expenses, loss and damage whatsoever incurred or sustained
by the Company in connection therewith.
(C) Advice and information, in whatever form it may be given, are provided
by the Company for the Customer only and the Customer shall defend, indemnify
and hold harmless the Company for all liability, loss, damage, costs and
expenses arising out of any other person relying on such advice or information.
(D)(i) The Customer undertakes that no claim be made against any servant
sub-contractor or agent of the Company which imposes or attempts to impose
upon any of them any liability whatsoever in connection with the Goods,
if any such claim should nevertheless be made, to indemnify the Company
against all consequences thereof.
(ii)Without prejudice to the foregoing, every such servant, sub-contractor
or agent shall have the benefit of all provisions herein, as if such provisions
were expressly for their benefit. In entering into this contract the Company,
to the extent of those provisions, does so not only on his behalf, but
as agent and trustee for such servants, sub-contractors and agents.
(iii) The Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company
from and against all claims, costs and demands whatsoever and by whomsoever
made or preferred in excess of the liability of the Company under the
terms of these Conditions and without prejudice to the generality of this
clause this indemnity shall cover all claims, costs and demands arising
from or in connection with the negligence of the Company, its servants,
sub-contractors and agents.
(iv) In this clause, 'sub-contractors" includes direct and indirect sub-contractors
and their respective servants and agents.
(E) The Customer shall be liable for the loss, damage, contamination,
soiling, detention or demurrage before, during and after the Carriage
of property (including, but not limited to, Containers) of the Company
or any person or vessel referred to in (D) above caused by the Customer
or Owner or any person acting on behalf of either of them or for which
the Customer is otherwise responsible.
17. Charges etc.
(A) The Customer shall pay to the Company in cash or as agreed all sums
immediately when due without deduction or deferment on account of any
claim, counterclaim or set-off.
(B) When the Company is instructed to collect freight, duties, charges
or other expenses from any person other than the Customer, the Customer
shall be responsible for the same on receipt of evidence of demand and
non payment by such other person when due.
(C) On all accounts overdue to the Company, the Company shall be entitled
to interest calculated at 4 per cent above base rate of the Company's
Bank applicable during the periods that such amounts are overdue.
18. Liberties and Rights of Company
The Company shall be entitled, except insofar as has been otherwise agreed
in writing, to enter into contracts on behalf of itself or the Customer
and without notice to the Customer
(A) for the carriage of Goods by any route, means or person,
(B) for the carriage of Goods of any description whether containerised
or not on or under the deck of any vessel,
(C) for the storage, packing, transhipment, loading, unloading or handling
of Goods by any person at any place whether on shore or afloat and for
any length of time
(D) for the carriage or storage of Goods in containers or with other goods
of whatever nature,
(E) for the performance of its own obligations, and to do such acts as
in the opinion of the Company may be necessary or incidental to the performance
of the Company's obligations.
19.(A) The Company shall be entitled but under no obligation,
to depart from the Customer's instructions in any respect if in the opinion
of the Company there is good reason to do so in the Customer's interest
and it shall not thereby incur any additional liability.
(B) The Company may at any time comply with the orders or recommendations
given by any Authority. The responsibility of the Company in respect of
the Goods shall cease on the delivery or other disposition of the Goods
in accordance with such orders or recommendations.
20. If at any time the performance of the Company's
obligations, in the opinion of the Company or any per son whose services
the Company makes use of, is or is likely to be effected by any hindrance,
risk, delay, difficulty or disadvantage whatsoever and which cannot be
avoided by reasonable endeavours by the Company or such other person,
the Company may, on giving notice in writing to the Customer or Owner
or without notice where it is not reasonably possible to give such notice,
treat the performance of its obligations as terminated and place the Goods
or any part of them at the Customer or Owner's disposal at any place which
the Company may deem safe and convenient, whereupon the responsibility
of the Company in respect of the Goods shall cease. The Customer shall
be responsible for any additional costs of carriage to and delivery and
storage at such place and all other expenses incurred by the Company.
21.If delivery of the Goods or any part thereof is not
taken by the Customer or Owner at the time and place when and where the
Company, or any person whose services the Company makes use of, is entitled
to call upon the Customer or Owner to take delivery thereof, the Company
or such other person shall be entitled to store the Goods in the open
or under cover at the sole risk and expense of the Customer.
22 Notwithstanding clauses 20 and 21, the Company shall
be entitled but under no obligation at the expense of the Customer payable
on demand and without any liability to the Customer and Owner, to sell
or dispose of (A) on giving 21 days notice in writing to the Customer
all goods which in the opinion of the Company cannot be delivered as instructed,
and (B) without notice Goods which have perished, deteriorated or altered,
or are in immediate prospect of doing so in a manner which has caused
or may be reasonably expected to cause loss or damage to any person or
property or to contravene applicable regulations.
23.The Company shall have a particular and general lien
on all Goods or documents relating to Goods in its possession for all
sums due at any time from the Customer or Owner and on giving 28 days
notice in writing to the Customer, shall be entitled to sell or dispose
of such Goods or documents at the expense of the Customer and without
liability to the Customer and Owner and apply the proceeds in or towards
the payment of such sums.
24.The Company shall be entitled to retain and be paid
all brokerages, commissions, allowances and other remunerations customarily
retained by or paid to freight forwarders.
25. The Company shall have the right to enforce against
the Owner and the Customer jointly and severally any liability of the
Customer under these Conditions or to recover from them any sums to be
paid by the Customer which upon demand have not been paid.
26. Containers (A) If a Container has not been packed
or stuffed by the Company, the Company shall not be liable for loss of
or damage to the contents if caused by:
(i)the manner in which the Container has been packed or stuffed,
(ii)the unsuitability of the contents for carriage in containers, unless
the Company has approved the suitability,
(iii)the unsuitability or defective condition of the Container provided
that where the Container has been supplied by or on behalf of the Company
this paragraph (iii) shall only apply if the unsuitability or defective
condition arose (a) without any negligence on the part of the Company
or (b) would have been apparent upon reasonable inspection by the Customer
or Owner or person acting on behalf of either of them.
(iv) if the Container is not sealed at the commencement of the Carriage
except where the Company has agreed to seal the Container
(B) T he Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company
against all liability, loss, damage, costs and expenses arising from one
or more of the matters covered by (A) above except for (A)(iii)(a) above.
(C) Where the Company is instructed to provide a Container, in the absence
of a written request to the contrary, the Company is not under an obligation
to provide a Container of any particular type or quality.
27. General Liability (A) Except insofar as otherwise
provided by these Conditions, the Company shall not be liable for any
loss or damage whatsoever arising from:
(a) the act or omission of the Customer or Owner or any person acting
on their behalf,
(b) compliance with the instructions given to the Company by the Customer,
Owner or any other person entitled to give them
(c) insufficiency of the packing or labelling of the Goods except where
such service has been provided by the Company,
(d) handling, loading, stowage or unloading of the Goods by the Customer
or Owner or any person acting on their behalf,
(e) inherent vice of the Goods,(f) riots, civil commotions, strikes, lockouts,
stoppage or restraint of labour from whatsoever cause,
(g) fire, flood or storm, or
(h) any cause which the Company could not avoid and the consequences whereof
it could not prevent by the exercise of reasonable diligence
(B) Subject to clause 15, howsoever caused the Company shall not be liable
for loss or damage to property other than the Goods themselves, indirect
or consequential loss or damage, loss of profit, delay or deviation.
28. Amount of Compensation
Except in so far as otherwise provided by these conditions, the liability
of the Company, howsoever arising, and notwithstanding that the cause
of loss or damage be unexplained shall not exceed the following
(A) in respect of all claims other than those subject to the provisions
of sub-clause (B) below, whichever is the least of
(i) the value of, or
(ii) NZ$2.50 per gross kilogram of the Goods lost, damaged, misdirected
misdelivered or in respect of which a claim arises.
(B) ln respect of claims for delay where not excluded by the provisions
of these Conditions, the amount of the Company's charges in respect of
the Goods delayed.
(C) Notwithstanding clause 28A or 28B, in relation to valuable cargoes
the Company's liability shall in no circumstances exceed NZD100,000 each
accident.
29.(A) Compensation shall be calculated by reference
to the invoice value of the Goods plus freight and insurance if paid.
(B) If there be no invoice value for the Goods, the compensation shall
be calculated by reference to the value of such Goods at the place and
time when they were delivered to the Customer or Owner or should have
been so delivered. The value of the Goods shall be fixed according to
the current market price, or, if there be no commodity exchange price
or current market price, by reference to the normal value of goods of
the same kind and quality.
30. By special agreement in writing and on payment of
additional charges, higher compensation may be claimed from the Company
not exceeding the value of the Goods or the agreed value, whichever is
the lesser.
31. Notice of Loss, Timebar
(A) The Company shall be discharged of all liability unless:
(i) notice of any claim is received in writing by the Company or its agent
within 14 days after the date specified in (B) below, or within a reasonable
time after such date if the Customer proves that it was impossible to
so notify, and
(ii) suit is brought in the proper forum and written notice thereof received
by the Company within 9 months after the date specified in (B) below.
(B)(i) in the case of loss or damage to Goods, the date of deliver y of
the Goods,
(ii) in the case of delay or non-delivery of the Goods, the date that
the Goods should have been delivered,
(iii) in any other case, the event giving rise to the claim.
32. General Average
The Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company in
respect of any claims of a General Average nature which may be made on
the Company and the Customer shall provide such security as may be required
by the Company in this connection.
33. Miscellaneous
Any notice served by post shall be deemed to have to be given on the third
day following the day on which it was posted to the address of the recipient
of such notice last known to the Company.
34. The defences and limits of liability provided for
by these Conditions shall apply in any action against the Company whether
such action be founded in contract or in tort.
35. If any legislation is compulsorily applicable to
any business undertaken, these Conditions shall, as regards such business,
be read as subject to such legislation and nothing in these Conditions
shall be construed as a surrender by the Company of any of its rights
or immunities or as an increase of any of its responsibilities or liabilities
under such legislation and if any part of these Conditions be repugnant
to such legislation to any extent such part shall as regards such business
be over-ridden to that extent and no further.
36. Headings of clauses or groups of clauses in these
Conditions are for indicative purposes only.
37. Jurisdiction and Law These conditions and any claim
or dispute arising out of or in connection with the services of the Company
shall be subject to the law of New Zealand and any such claim ordispute
shall be determined by the Courts of New Zealand and no other Court.
PART II: Company As Agent
Special Liability and Indemnity Conditions
38.(A) To the extent that the Company acts as an agent,
the Company does not make or purport to make any contract with the Customer
for the carriage, storage or handling of the Goods nor for any other physical
service in relation to them and acts solely on behalf of the Customer
in securing such services by establishing contracts with third parties
so that direct contractual relationships are established between the Customer
and such third parties.
(B) The Company shall not be liable for the acts and omissions of such
third parties referred to in sub-clause (A) above.
39.(A) The Company when acting as an agent has the authority
of the Customer to enter into contracts on the Customer's behalf and to
do such acts so as to bind the Customer by such contracts and acts in
all respects notwithstanding any departure from the Customer's instructions.
(B) Except to the extent caused by the Company's negligence, the Customer
shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company in respect of all
liability, loss, damage, costs or expenses arising out of any contracts
made in the procurement of the Customer's requirements in accordance with
clause 38.
40. Choice of Rates
Where there is a choice of rates according to the extent or degree of
liability assumed by persons carrying, storing, handling the Goods, no
declaration of value where optional will be made unless otherwise agreed
in writing.
PART III: Company as Principal
Special Liability
41. Conditions
To the extent that the Company contracts as principal for the performance
of the Customer's instructions, the Company undertakes to perform or in
its own name to procure the performances of the Customer's instructions
and subject to the provisions of these Conditions shall be liable for
the loss of or damage to the Goods occurring from the time that the Goods
are taken into its charge until the time of delivery.
42. Where the Company contracts as a principal and sub-contracts
the performance of the Company's services and it can be proved that the
loss of or damage to or in respect of the Goods arose or was caused whilst
the Goods were in the care or custody of the sub-contractor the Company
shall have the full benefit of all rights, limitations and exclusions
of liability available to such sub-contractor in the contract between
the Company and such subcontractor and in any law, statute or regulation
and the liability of the Company shall not exceed the amount recovered,
if any, by the Company from such sub-contractor.
43. Notwithstanding other provisions in these Conditions,
if it can be proved where the loss of or damage to the Goods occurred,
the Company's liability shall be determined by the provisions contained
in any international convention or national law, the provisions of which
(A) cannot be departed from by private contract, to the detriment of the
claimant, and
(B) would have applied if the claimant had made a separate and direct
contract with the actual provider of the particular service in respect
of that service or stage of carriage where the loss or damage occurred
and received as evidence thereof any particular document which must be
issued if such international convention or national law shall apply.
44. Notwithstanding other provisions in these Conditions,
if it can be proved that the loss of or damage to the Goods occurred at
sea or inland waterway and the provisions of clause 42 do not apply, the
Company's liability shall be determined by the Hague Visby Rules Reference
in the Hague Visby Rules to carriage by sea shall be deemed to include
reference to carriage b y inland waterways and the Hague Visby Rules shall
be construed accordingly.
45. Notwithstanding the provisions of clauses 42, 43
and 44 if the loss of or damage to the Goods occurred at sea or on inland
waterways, and the Owner, Charterer or operator of the vessel establishes
a limited fund, the liability of the Company shall be limited to the proportion
of the said limitation fund allocated to the Goods.
46. Air Carriage
If the Company acts as a principal in respect of a carriage of Goods by
air, the following notice is hereby given: If the carriage involves an
ultimate destination or stop in a country other than the country of departure,
the Warsaw Convention may be applicable and the Convention governs and
in most cases limits the liability of carriers in respect of loss of or
damage to cargo. Agreed stopping places are those places (other than the
places of departure and destination) shown under requested routing and/or
those places shown in carrier's timetables as scheduled stopping places
for the route. The address of the first carrier is the airport of departure.
47. Both to Blame Collision Clause
The current Both-to-Blame Collision Clause as adopted by BIMCO is incorporated
in these conditions.
48. USA and/or Canada Clause
(A) With respect to transportation within USA or Canada the responsibility
of the Company shall be to procure transportation by carrier's (one or
more) and such transportation shall be subject to such carrier's contracts
and tariffs and any law compulsorily applicable. The Company guarantees
the fulfilment of such carrier's obligations under their contracts and
tariffs.
(B) If and to the extent that the provisions of the Harter Act of the
USA 1893 would otherwise be compulsorily applicable to regulate the Company's
responsibility for the Goods during any period prior to loading on or
after discharge from the vessel on which the Goods are to be or have been
carried, the Company's responsibility shall instead be determined by the
provisions of these Conditions, but if such provisions are found to be
invalid such responsibility shall be determined by the provisions in the
Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of the USA Approved 1936.
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