Global
Testing and Inspection Co., Ltd.
General
Terms
1. General Information and Definitions
(1.1) In the event that an order for any
services is placed, the Client shall accept the General Terms. The General
Terms shall be applicable to all orders, resulting contracts and other
arrangements, including all offers made or services provided by the Company or
any of its affiliated companies They are not applicable if and as far as they
are in conflict with the regulations on services performed on behalf of
governments, government bodies or any other public entity, or they are in
conflict with mandatory provisions of local law. The Client’s placement of
orders as well as the conclusion of contracts with the Company shall be
regarded as awareness and acceptance of these General Terms.
(1.2) The Company strongly recommends any
Client or potential Client to read the full text of these General Terms prior
to placement of any order to or conclusion of any contract with the Company.
Ancillary agreements, promises and other statements made on the part of the
Company staff or the experts called upon by them shall be bind-ing only if they
are expressly confirmed by the Company in writing. This shall also apply to any
modifications of this clause.
2. Provision of Services
(2.1) With due care and skill, the Company
will provide services according to Client's specific instructions as made
available by the Client. In the absence of Client’s specific instructions, the
following is deemed as instructions given to the Company:
(a) The terms of any standard specification
sheet or standard order form provided by the Company; and/or
(b) Any relevant usage, practice or trade
custom; and/or
(c) Such methods the Company considers
technically, operationally and/or on financial grounds appropriate.
(2.2) No other party is entitled to give any
instructions particularly on the scope and type of the services or the reports
delivered, or on the resulting certificates (the “Reports of Findings”), unless
the Company receives prior written instructions to the contrary from the
Client. The Client hereby irrevocably authorizes the Company to deliver Reports
of Findings to a third party where so instructed by the Client or, at the
Company’s discretion, where it implicitly follows from circumstances, trade
custom, usage or practice.
(2.3) The Information stated in the Report of
Findings is derived from the results of inspection or testing procedures
carried out in accordance with the instructions and/or Company’s assessment of
such results on the basis of any technical standards, trade custom or practice,
or other circumstances which should in Company’s professional experience be
taken into account.
(2.4) Reports of Findings issued after the
testing of samples refer the Company’s opinion only on samples under testing
and not to the lot from which the samples were drawn.
(2.5) Client agrees that the Company’s sole
responsibility is to be present at the time of the third party’s intervention
and to forward the results, or confirm the occurrence of the intervention, in
case Client requests the Company to witness any third party’s intervention. Client
agrees that the Company will use the test methods for analysis as requested in
the request form, and if none is stated in the form, the Company will choose
the appropriate test methods for analysis.
(2.6) The Reports of Findings issued by the
Company will reflect the facts as recorded by it at the time of its
intervention only and within the limits of the instructions received or, in the
absence of such instructions, within the limits of the alternative parameters
applied as provided for in Clause 2.1. The Company is under no obligation to
refer to, or report up-on, any facts or circumstances, which are outside the
specific instructions received or alter-native parameters applied.
(2.7) The performance of all or part of the
services may be delegated to an agent or subcontractor by the Company. The
Client authorizes the Company to disclose all information necessary for such
performance to the agent or subcontractor.
(2.8) Documents reflecting engagements
contracted between the Client and third parties or third party documents, e.g.
sales contract copies, letters of credit, bills of lading, etc. should be made
available to the Company. These are considered to be for information only, and
do not extend or restrict the scope of the services or the obligations accepted
by the Company.
(2.9) The Company agrees that, by providing
the services to the Client, it neither takes the place of Client or any third
party, nor otherwise assumes, abridges, abrogates or undertakes to discharge
any duty of the Client to any third party or that of any third party to the
Client. Al-so, it does not release the Client or any third party from any of
their obligations.
(2.10) Depending on the nature of each
sample, all samples given to the Company shall be retained for a maximum of 6 months
or for such other shorter time period as the nature of the sample permits, and
then sent back to Client or otherwise disposed of at the Company’s discretion.
After that time the Company will not be responsible for the samples. Storage of
samples for more than 6 months shall incur a storage fee payable by the Client.
If samples are returned to the Client, the Client will be billed a handling and
freight fees. Special disposal charges will be billed to the Client if
incurred.
3. Client’s Obligations
The Client shall:
(3.1) ensure that all required supporting
documents, information and instructions as submitted are accurate, trueful and
complete. These information are to be submitted in a timely not later than 2
working days from the date of which the services are requested by the Client
(3.2) ensure to give all necessary access for
the Company's representatives to the premises where the services are to be
performed and to take all necessary steps to eliminate or remedy any obstacles
to, or interruptions in the performance of the services;
(3.3) make available any special equipment
and personnel necessary for the performance of the services, if required;
(3.4) ensure that for the safety and security
of working conditions, sites and installations, all necessary measures are
taken during the performance of services. In this respect, the Client will not
rely on the Company's advice whether required or not;
(3.5) inform the Company of any known hazards
or dangers, actual or potential, associated with any order, samples, testing or
any other service rendered by the Company well in advance. Those are, but are
not limited to the presence or risk of radiation, environ-mental pollution or
poisons- toxic or noxious or explosive elements or materials;
(3.6) fully exercise all its rights and
discharge all its liabilities under any relevant sales or other contract with a
third party.
4. Fees and Payment
(4.1) All Fees not agreed on between the
Company and Client at the time the order is placed or a contract is concluded
shall be determined by the Company’s Schedule of Fees (which are subject to
change). All applicable taxes shall be paid by Client, as far as mandatory laws
do not provide otherwise.
(4.2) Unless a specific period is established
in the invoice, the Client shall pay upon receiving the invoice, but not later
than 30 days from the relevant invoice date or within such other period as may
be established by the Company in the invoice (the “Due Date”).
(4.3) The Client shall not be entitled to
retain or defer due payment of any sums to the Company on account of any
dispute, counter claim or set-off against the Company. The Company reserves the
right to retain or defer any due payments if any dispute arises with or it
raises any counterclaim against the Client. The Company is entitled to set off
due payments against payments of the Client.
(4.4) For the collection of unpaid fees, the
Company may decide to bring action in any court with competent jurisdiction.
The corresponding collection costs, including attorney's fees and related
costs, shall be borne by the Client, as far as the mandatory local law does not
provide otherwise.
(4.5) In case of any unforeseen problems or
expenses arise while carrying out the ser-vices, the Company informs the
Client. In such cases, the Company shall be entitled to charge additional fees
to cover extra time and to invoice extra costs necessarily incurred to complete
the services.
(4.6) If the Company is unable to perform all
or parts of the services for any cause whatsoever beyond the Company’s control,
including the failure by Client to com-ply with any of its obligations provided
for in the foregoing Clause 3, the Company shall nevertheless be entitled to
payments of:
(1) The amount of all non-refundable expenses
incurred by the Company; and
(2) A proportion of the agreed fee equal to
the proportion of the services actually carried out.
5. Suspension or Termination of Services
In any case mentioned below, the Company
shall be entitled to either suspend or terminate the provision of the services
immediately and without any liability:
(5.1) Failure by the Client to comply with
any of its obligations under these General Terms and such failure is not
remedied within 10 days after a notice of such failure has been delivered to
the Client; or
(5.2) Any suspension of payment, arrangement
with creditors, bankruptcy, insolvency, receivership or cessation of business
by Client.
6. Liability and Indemnification
(6.1) Limitation of Liability:
(1) Clients seeking a guarantee against loss
or damage should obtain appropriate insurance. The Company is neither an
insurer nor a guarantor and disclaims all liability in such capacity.
(2) Reports of Findings are issued on the
basis of the information, documents and/or samples provided by, or on behalf of
the Client and solely for the benefit of the Client who is obliged to act on the
basis of such Reports of Findings. Neither the Company nor any of its staff,
agents or subcontractors shall be liable to the client nor to any third party
for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of such Reports of Findings, or
for any incorrect results arising from unclear, erroneous, incomplete,
misleading or false information pro-vided to the Company.
(3) For any delayed, total or partial
non-performance of the services arising directly or indirectly from any event
beyond the Company’s control, including failure by Client to comply with any of
its obligations hereunder, the Company shall not be liable.
(4) The liability of the Company in respect
of any claim for loss, damage or expense of any nature and howsoever arising
shall in no circumstances exceed a total aggregate sum equal to 5 times the
amount of the fee paid in respect of the specific service which gives rise to
such claim, and shall in any case not exceed the equivalent of 3,000 USD in
CNY.
(5) For any indirect or consequential loss
(including loss of profits), the Company shall not have any liabilities.
(6) In case of any claim, the Client must
give written notice to the Company within 30 days of discovery of the facts
with all necessary documents to justify such claim. In any case, the Company
shall be discharged from all liability for all claims for loss, damage or
expense unless a lawsuit is brought within two years from:
(i) the performance date of the Company for
its services which refers to the claim; or
(ii) the date when the service should have
been completed in the event of any alleged non-performance.
(6.2) Indemnification: Against all claims
(actual or threatened) by any third party for loss, damage or expenses of
whatsoever nature including all legal expenses and related costs and howsoever
arising relating to the performance, purported performance or non-performance
of any services, the Client shall guarantee, hold harmless and indemnify the
Company and its officers, employees, agents or subcontractors.
7. Obligation of Confidentiality, Copyright,
Data Privacy Protection
(7.1) The Company shall be authorized to make
file copies of written documents, which have been made available to it for
review and which are important for processing the order.
(7.2) Insofar as Reports of Findings are
prepared in the course of processing the order and which are subject to the
protection of copyright, then the Company shall grant the Client a simple,
non-transferable right to use, insofar as this is necessary and in accordance
with the contractually presupposed purpose. Other rights shall not be
transferred; in particular, the customer shall not be entitled to modify and/or
edit audit reports or to make use of such outside of his business premises.
(7.3) The Company and its staff which may be
called in shall not disclose or use trade and business matters about which they
have gained knowledge during the performance of their work without proper
authorization, or unless instructed by a court or authorized body (e.g.
regulatory authority, accreditation body or certification scheme owner) or
otherwise legally required.
8. Miscellaneous
(8.1) The validity, legality and
enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or
impaired, even if any one or more provisions of these General Conditions are
found to be illegal or unenforceable in any respect.
(8.2) Client shall not directly or indirectly
entice, encourage or make any offer to Company’s employees to leave their
employment with the Company, during the course of providing the services and
for a period of one year thereafter.
(8.3) Use of the Company’s corporate name or
registered marks for advertising purposes is not permitted without the
Company’s prior written authorization.
9. Governing Law, Jurisdiction and Dispute
Settlement
(9.1) Unless specifically agreed otherwise,
all disputes arising out or in connection with contractual relationship(s)
hereunder shall be governed by the applicable laws and regulations of the
People’s Republic of China.
(9.2) Place of performance for any obligation
arising out of this contract shall be Guangzhou, the Place of the Global
Testing and Inspection Co., Ltd. unless otherwise expressly agreed by the
parties.
10. Languages
In the event of any discrepancy between the English and the Chinese version of these General Terms, the Chinese version shall prevail.