Bill of Lading -- Terms and Conditions

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DEFINITIONS

  • "Merchant" means and includes the Shipper, the Consignor, the Holder of this bill of lading, the Receiver and the Owner of the Goods.
  • "Hague Rules" means the provision of international Convention for Unification of certain Rules relating to bill of lading signed at Brussels on 25th August 1924.
  • "Hague-Visby Rules" means the Hague Rules as amended by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 23rd February 1968.
  • "COGSA 1936" means the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of the United States of America approved on 16th April 1936.
  • "COGWA 1936" means the Carriage of Goods by Water Act 1936 of Canada.
  • "COGSA 1971" means the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 of the United Kingdom dated 8th April 1971.
  • "SDRS" means Special Drawing Rights as defined by the International Monetary Fund.
  • "Container" includes any type of Container, Trailer, Flat or Unit Load Device.
  • "Person" includes an individual, a firm and a body corporate.

CONDITION

  1. Applicability
    The provisions set out and referred to in this document shall apply the transport as described on the face of the Bill of Lading is Port to Port or Combined Transport.
  2. Carrier's Tariff
    The provisions of the Carrier's applicable Tariff, if any, are incorporated herein. copies of such provisions are obtainable from the Carrier or his agents upon request or, where applicable, from a government body with whom the Tariff has been filed. In the case of inconsistency between this Bill of Lading and the applicable Tariff, this Bill of Lading shall prevail.
  3. Warranty
    The Merchant warrants that in agreeing to the terms hereof he is the agent of and has the authority of the person owning or entitled to the possession of the Goods or any person who has a present or future interest in the Goods.
  4. Negotiability and Title to the Goods
    1. This Bill of Lading shall be non-negotiable unless made "to order" in which event it shall be negotiable and shall constitute title to the Goods and the holder shall be entitled to receive or transfer the Goods herein described.
    2. For Bill of Lading shall be prima face evidence of the taking in charge by the Carrier of the Goods as herein described. However, proof to the contrary shall not be admissible when the Bill of Lading has been negotiated or transferred for valuable consideration to a third party acting in good faith.
  5. Issuance of this Bill of Lading
    By issuance of this Bill of Lading the Carrier assumes liability as set out in these Conditions and:

    1. For Port to Port or Combined Transport, undertakes to perform and/or in his own name to procure the performance of the entire transport from the place at which the Goods are taken in charge to the place designated for delivery in this Bill of Lading.
    2. For the purposes and subject to the provisions of this Bill of Lading the Carrier shall be responsible for the acts and omissions of any person of whose services he makes use for the performance of the Contact evidenced by this Bill of Lading.
    3. When issued on a Port to Port Basis, the responsibility of the Carrier is limited to that part of the Carrier from and during loading onto the vessel up to and during discharge from the vessel the Carrier shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever in respect of the Goods or for any other matter arising during any other part of the Carriage even though charges for the whole Carriage have been charged by the Carrier. The Merchant constitutes agent to enter into contracts on behalf of the merchant with others for transport storage, handling any other services in respect of the Goods prior to loading and subsequent to discharge of the Goods from the vessel without responsibility for any act omission whatsoever the part of the Carrier or others and the Carrier may as such agent enter into contract with others on any terms whatsoever including terms less favorable than the terms in this Bill of Lading.
  6. Dangerous Goods Indemnity
    1. The Merchant shall comply with the rules which are mandatory according to the National Law or by reason of International Convention, relating to the carriage of Goods of a dangerous nature, and shall in any case inform the Carrier in writing of the exact nature of the danger, before Goods of a dangerous nature are taken in charge by the Carrier and indicate to him, if need be, the precautions to be taken.
    2. If the Merchant fails to provide such information and the Carrier is unaware of the dangerous nature of the Goods and the necessary precautions to be taken and if, at the time, they are deemed to be hazard to life or property, they may at any place be unloaded, destroyed rendered harmless, as circumstances may require without compensation, and the Merchant shall be liable for all loss, damage, delay or expenses arising our of their being taken in charge, or their carriage, or of any services incidental thereto.
    3. If any Goods shipped with the knowledge of the Carrier as to their dangerous nature shall become a danger to the vessel, vehicle cargo, they may in like manner be unloaded or landed at any place or destroyed or rendered innocuous by the Carrier, without liability on the part of the Carrier, except to General Average, if any.
  7. Description of Goods and Merchants Packing
    1. The Consignor shall be deemed to have guaranteed the Carrier the accuracy, at the time the Goods were taken in charge by the Carrier, of the description of the Goods, marks, numbers, quantity, weight and/or volume as furnished by him, and the Consignor shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Carrier against all loss, damage and expenses arising or resulting from inaccuracies or inadequacy of such particulars. The right of the Carrier to such obligation from the Consignor shall in no way limited his responsibility and liability under this Bill of Lading to any person other than the Consignor.
    2. Without prejudice of Clause 8(A)(2)(c), the Merchant shall be liable for any loss, damage or injury caused by faulty or insufficient packing of Goods or by faulty loading or packing within containers and trailers and on flats when such loading or packing has been performed by the Merchant or on behalf of the Merchant by a person other than the Carrier, or by defect or unsuitability of the containers, trailers or flats, when supplied by the Merchant, and shall defend indemnify and hold harmless the Carrier against any additional expenses so caused.
    3. It is agreed that superficial rust, oxidation or any like condition due to moisture is not a condition of damage but is inherent to the nature of the Goods and acknowledgement of the receipt of the Goods in apparent good order and condition is not a representation that such conditions of rust, oxidation or the like did not exist or receipt.
      1. The Merchant 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 styffed by or on behalf of the Merchant further undertakes that the Goods have been properly stuffed in the Container and that its thermostatic controls have been properly set by the Merchant before receipt of the Goods by the Carrier. If the said requirements are not complied with the Carrier shall not be liable for any loss of or damage to the Goods by such non-compliance.
      2. The Carrier shall not be liable for any loss of or damage to the Goods arising from latent defects, derangement, breakdown, stoppage of the temperature controlling machinery, plant insulation or any apparatus of the Container, provided that the Carrier shall before or at the beginning of the transport exercise due diligence to maintain the temperature controlled Container in an efficient state.
  8. Extent of Liability
      1. The Carrier shall be liable for loss or damage to the Goods occurring between the time when he takes the Goods into his charge and the time of delivery.
      2. The Carrier shall, however, be relieved of liability for any loss or damage if such loss or damage was caused by
        1. an act or omission of the merchant, or person other than the Carrier acting on behalf of the Merchant or from whom the Carrier took the Goods in charge;
        2. insufficiency or defective condition of the packaging or marks and/or numbers;
        3. handing, loading, storage or unloading of the Goods by the Merchant or any person acting on behalf of the Merchant;
        4. inherent vice of Goods;
        5. strike, lockout, stoppage or restraint of labour, the consequences of which the Carrier could not avoid by the exercise of reasonable diligence;
        6. a nuclear incident if the operator of a nuclear installation or a person acting for him is liable for this damage under an applicable International Convention national Law governing liability in respect of nuclear energy;
        7. any cause or event which the Carrier could not avoid and the consequences whereof he could not prevent by the exercise of reasonable diligence.
      3. The burden of proving that the loss or damage was due to one or more of the above causes or events shall rest upon the Carrier. When the Carrier established that, in the circumstances of the case, the loss or damage could be attributed to one or more of the causes and events specified in (b) to (d) above, it shall be presumed that it was so caused. The claimant shall, however, be entitled to prove that the loss or damage was not, in fact, caused wholly or partly by one or more of these caused or events.
    1. When in accordance with Clause 8.A.1 the Carrier is liable to pay compensation in respect of loss or damage and the stage of transport where loss or damage occurred is known, the liability of the Carrier in respect of such loss or damage shall be:
      1. determined by the provisions contained in any International Convention or National Law, which provisions
        1. cannot be departed from by private contract, to the detriment of the claimant, and
        2. would have applied if the claimant had made a separate and direct contract with the Carrier in respect of the particular stage of transport where the loss or damage occurred and received as evidence thereof any particular document which must be issued in order to make such International Convention or National Law applicable.
      2. with respect to the transportation the United States of America or in Canada to the Port of Loading or from the Port of Discharge, the responsibility of the Carrier shall be to procure transportation by carriers (one or more) and such transportation shall be subject to the inland carriers contracts of carriage and tariffs and any law compulsorily applicable. The Carrier guarantees the fulfillment of such inland carriers' obligation under the contracts and tariffs.