Standard Trading Conditions

5. The Customer warrants that he is either the Owner or the authorized agent of the Owner of the Goods and that he is authorized 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 be 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 labeled, except where the Company has accepted instructions in respect of such services.

Special Instructions, Goods and Services

10.

• (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) If 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 preheated 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 will be effected except upon express instructions given in writing by the Customer and all insurances effected by the Company are subject to the usual exceptions and 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 of 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. Third parties to whom the goods are entrusted may limit liability for loss or damage; the Company will request

excess valuation coverage only upon specific written instructions from the Customer, which must agree to pay any charges therefore; in the absence of written instructions or the refusal of the third party to agree to a higher declared value, at Company’s discretion, the goods may be tendered to the third party, subject to the terms of the third party’s limitations of liability and/or terms and conditions of service.

15. Unless otherwise previously agreed in writing that the Goods shall depart or arrive by a particular date, the Company accepts no responsibility for departure or arrival dates of Goods.

GENERAL INDEMNITIES

16.

1. (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.
2. (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.
3. (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.
4. (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.
5. (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.

CHARGES ETC.

17.

• (A) Quotations as to fees, rates of duty, freight charges, insurance premiums or other charges given by the Company to the Customer are for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice; no quotation shall be binding upon the Company unless the Company in writing agrees to undertake the handling or transportation of the shipment at a specific rate or amount set forth in the quotation and payment arrangements are agreed to between the Company and the Customer. The Customer shall pay to the Company as agreed all sums immediately when due without deduction or deferment on account of any claims, 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 amounts overdue to the Company, the Company shall be entitled to interest, calculated at 4 per cent above base rate of the RBI applicable during the period that such amounts are overdue.

LIBERTIES AND RIGHTS OF COMPANY

18. SUBCONTRACTING
Where the company employs third parties to perform all or any of the functions which it has agreed to perform, the customer agrees that the company shall have no responsibility or liability to its customer for any act or omission of such third party, even though the company may be responsible for the payment of such third party’s charges; but the company shall, it suitably indemnified against all costs, (including attorney and client costs) which may be incurred by or awarded against the company, take such action against the third party on the customer’s behalf as the customer may direct.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AGENTS AND SUBCONTRACTORS

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein the customer agrees that all goods shall be dealt with by the company on the terms and conditions, whether or not inconsistent with these trading terms and conditions, stipulated by the carriers, warehousemen, government departments, and all other parties (whether acting as agents or subcontractors to the company or not) into whose possession or custody the goods may pass, or subject to whose authority they may at any time be.

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 containerized or not on or under the deck of any vessel,
• (C) for the storage, packing, transshipment, 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 person whose services the Company makes use of, is or is likely to be affected by any hindrance, risk, delay, difficulty or disadvantage whatsoever and which cannot be avoided by reasonable endeavors 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 any 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.

CONTAINERS

26.

1. (A) If a Container has not been packed nor 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.
2. (B) The 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.
3. (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.

GENERAL LIABILITY

27. (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. To the extent that the Company contracts as agents of the carrier 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.

29. Where the Company contracts as agents of the carrier and sub-contracts the performance of his 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 sub sub-contractor 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

30. 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.

31. Notwithstanding other provisions in these Condition, 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 43 do not apply, the Company’s liability shall be determined by the York-Antwerp Rules 1974. Reference in the to York-Antwerp Rules 1974 carriage by sea shall be deemed to include reference to carriage by inland waterways and the York-Antwerp Rules 1974 shall be construed accordingly.

Special terms and conditions:

Applicable to all the destinations In CIS, Central Asia Russia & Afghanistan

• A. Ocean transportation from Port Of Loading To Port Of Discharge, covered by the general terms and conditions mentioned on the Original Bill Of Lading.
• B. All deliveries to consignee at final destination are given against either CMR or the Railway Bill as the case may be. Company accepts no responsibility to deliver goods against House Bills of Lading issued at Origin. If these conditions are not acceptable to shipper then it must be informed to company in writing before handing over the goods for stuffing. The company accepts no liability for any delivery without collection of HBL from final consignee.
• C. Onward transportation from Port Of Discharge to Final Destination, by ROAD, covered by CMR for international carriage of goods by Road, issued by the Onward Carrier between and according to instructions and with codes given by shipper or their agent.
• D. Onward transportation from Port Of Discharge to Final Destination by RAIL covered by S.M.G.S. rules and issued by the respective Railway between and according to instructions and with codes given by shipper or its agents.
• E. Shipper or its authorized agent is required to pay the freight, at least 7 days before the goods arrive at the Transit Point, and to instruct and authorize the carrier or any third party to transfer or pick up goods, from the date when the goods arrive at the transition hub, failing which, they shall undertake any and all liabilities for breach of contract due to transit delays or pickup deferment. In the event that Shipper or its authorized agent fails to give, defers, changes or terminates the said instruction, or fails to pay freight as scheduled, or consignee rejects or declares to reject such goods, or fails to perform its obligations in customs clearance, Shipper and its authorized agent will undertake such liabilities for break of contract due to deferment of goods transition or pickup. If any such condition occurs, carrier reserves the right to ask Shipper and its authorized agent to make a payment as penalty, calculated at 150.00 usd/TEU per day from the date when such goods arrive at the transition hub, or transition or pickup deferment occurs.
• F. In consideration of the single transport unit, i.e., container, and complexity of multimodal transportation, carrier may, at its discretion, transport or transit such consigned goods under the same agreement in batches.