Terms and Conditions - Long Form Version (01-04)

The terms and conditions below are the standard English terms and conditions of carriage. Local variations may exist and apply depending on the country of origin of the shipment. Please contact our customer service operators on 0800 180 4995

1. DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply to the terms and conditions set out below that govern this contract of carriage between you and us

"we", "us" and "our" means subsidiaries, affiliates of 1st Choice Parcels and their respective employees, agents and independent contractors;

"you" and "your" means the sender, consignor or consignee of the shipment, holder of this consignment note, receiver and owner of the contents of the shipment or any other party having a legal interest in those contents;

"carriage" means and includes the whole of the operations and services undertaken by us in connection with the shipment;

"shipment" means any envelope, document, package, parcel, satchel or piece of freight given to and accepted by us for carriage and transported under our consignment note.

“prohibited items” means any goods or materials the carriage of which is prohibited by any law, rule or regulation of any country in which the shipment travels

2. THE PARTY WITH WHOM YOU ARE CONTRACTING

Your contract is with the subsidiary or affiliate of 1st Choice Parcels that accepts the shipment from you. You agree that we may subcontract the whole or any part of the carriage on any terms and conditions we decide.

3. YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS

By giving us your shipment you accept our terms and conditions set out in this contract of carriage on behalf of yourself or anyone else who has an interest in the shipment irrespective of whether you have signed the front of our consignment note or not. Our terms and conditions also cover anyone we use to collect, transport or deliver your shipment. None of our employees, agents or subcontractors are authorised to waive, alter or modify these terms and conditions. When you give us the shipment with oral or written instructions that conflict with our terms and conditions we shall not be bound by such instructions.

4. DANGEROUS GOODS / SECURITY

4.1 Dangerous Goods

a) Except in the circumstances shown in paragraph 4.1 (b) below we do not carry dangerous goods including those specified in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) technical instructions, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) dangerous goods regulations, the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code, the European Agreement concerning the international carriage of Dangerous goods by Road (ADR) regulations or any other national or international rules applicable to the transport of dangerous goods.

b) We may at our discretion accept some dangerous goods for carriage in some countries if you have been accorded the status of an approved customer and this must be given by us in writing before your shipment can be accepted. Your dangerous goods will only be accepted if they comply with the applicable regulations (see clause 4.1 a) and our requirements. Details of our requirements together with the procedure for applying for approved customer status are available from our nearest office and a dangerous goods surcharge will be invoiced to you upon acceptance of your shipment.

4.2 Air Cargo Security Regulations

a) You must ensure and you hereby certify by completing our consignment note or tendering a shipment to us that your shipment does not contain a prohibited article as specified in ICAO Annex 17 or other national or international regulations that govern aviation security. You must give us a full description of the contents of the shipment on our consignment note and your liability is not extinguished by providing this information. Shipments carried by us may be subject to security screening which could include the use of X-ray equipment and you accept that the contents of your shipment may be examined in transit for security reasons.

b) You declare that you have prepared the shipment in secure premises using reliable staff employed by you and that the shipment has been safeguarded against unauthorised interference during preparation, storage and transportation immediately prior to hand over by you to us.

4.3 Prohibited Items

We do not accept prohibited items.

5. RIGHT OF INSPECTION

You agree that we or any governmental authority including customs may open and inspect your shipment at any time.

6. CALCULATION OF TRANSIT TIMES AND ROUTING OF SHIPMENTS

Weekend days, public holidays and bank holidays together with delays caused by customs or other events beyond our control are not included when we quote door to door delivery times in our published literature. The route and the method by which we transport your shipment shall be at our sole discretion.

7. CUSTOMS CLEARANCE

7.1 You hereby appoint us as your agent solely for the purpose of clearing and entering the shipment through customs and you hereby certify that we are the consignee for the purpose of designating a customs broker to perform customs clearances and entries if we subcontract this work. If any customs authority requires additional documentation for the purpose of confirming our customs clearance status it is your responsibility to provide the required documentation at your expense.

7.2 You certify that all statements and information you provide relating to the exportation and importation of the shipment will be true and correct. You acknowledge that in the event that you make untrue or fraudulent statements about the shipment or any of its contents you risk a civil claim and/or criminal prosecution the penalties for which include forfeiture and sale of your shipment. To the extent that we may voluntarily assist you in completing the required customs and other formalities such assistance will be rendered at your sole risk. You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any claims that may be brought against us arising from the information you provide to us and pay any administration fee we may charge you for providing such assistance.

7.3 Any customs penalties, storage charges or other expenses we incur as a result of the actions of customs or other governmental authorities or your failure and/or the receiver's failure to provide proper documentation and/or to obtain the required licence or permit will be charged to you or the receiver of the shipment. In the event that we decide to charge the receiver and the receiver refuses to pay the incurred charges you agree to pay them to us together with our fee for the administration involved in this extra work.

7.4 We will endeavour to expedite all customs clearance formalities for your shipment but are not liable for any delays, losses or damage caused by interference from customs officers or other governmental authorities.

8. INCORRECT ADDRESS AND P.O. BOX NUMBERS

If we are unable to deliver a shipment because of an incorrect address we will make all reasonable efforts to find the correct address. We will notify you of the correction and deliver or attempt to deliver the shipment to the correct address although additional charges may apply if the correct address is different to the one shown on the consignment note or the label affixed to your shipment. Deliveries to post office box numbers are only accepted if the telephone number of the consignee is also provided and you agree that in the event that we are unable to deliver the shipment at the first attempt then we may post the shipment to the consignee and proof of posting is sufficient proof of delivery.

9. UNDELIVERABLE AND REJECTED SHIPMENTS

Where we are unable to complete the delivery of a shipment we will try to leave a notice at the receiver’s address stating that delivery has been attempted and the whereabouts of the shipment. If delivery has not been made after one more attempt by us or the receiver refuses to accept delivery we will try to contact you and agree the appropriate next action. You agree to pay us any costs we incur in forwarding, disposing of or returning the shipment and our charges (if any) for making a third or more delivery attempt.

10. YOUR OBLIGATIONS

You warrant to us that:

a) the contents of the shipment have been properly described on our consignment note;

b) the contents of the shipment have been correctly labelled and the label or labels have been securely fixed by you in a prominent position on the outer surface of the shipment that can be clearly seen by us;

c) the consignee’s full address including the postcode has been entered on our consignment note;

d) the consignee’s full address including the postcode has been accurately and legibly completed on an address label securely fixed by you to a prominent position on the outer surface of the shipment that can be clearly seen by us;

e) the contents of the shipment have been packed safely and carefully by you to protect against the ordinary risks of transport;

f) you have declared the correct weight of the shipment and you will provide any special equipment we may need to load or unload the shipment on or off our vehicles.

g) you have securely fixed a heavy weight label in a prominent position on the outer surface of the shipment that can clearly be seen by us for any item weighing 30 kilos or more;

h) the contents of the shipment are not ones restricted by IATA or ICAO and are not prohibited items;

i) in the case of an intra-European Union shipment where the receiver pays our charges your VAT identity number and that of the receiver has been correctly given in writing to us;

j) when you have asked us to charge the receiver or a third party and the receiver or third party does not pay us you will promptly settle our invoice together with an administration fee in full within 7 days of us sending you the invoice.

You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any liabilities we may suffer or any costs, damages or expenses including legal costs we incur arising out of you being in breach of any of these warranties.

11. EXTENT OF OUR LIABILITY

Subject to clause 12 below we limit our liability for any loss, damage or delay of your shipment or any part of it as follows:

a) Carriage by air

If the carriage of your shipment is solely or partly by air and involves an ultimate destination or a stop in a country other than the country of departure the Warsaw Convention 1929 (as amended by the Hague protocol 1955) or the Montreal Convention 1999 will be applicable. These international treaties govern and limit our liability for loss, damage or delay to your shipment to 17 special drawing rights per kilo (approximately US$ 20 per kilo although the rate of exchange is variable).

b) Carriage by road

If we carry your shipment solely by road within, to or from a country that is a party to the convention on the contract for the international carriage of goods by road 1956 (CMR) our liability for loss or damage to your shipment or the part affected is limited to 8.33 special drawing rights per kilo (approximately US$10 per kilo although the rate of exchange is variable). In the case of delay where you can show to us you have suffered loss our liability is limited to refunding to you the charge you paid us for carriage in respect of that shipment or the part which was delayed.

If none of the limits of liability of the above conventions apply for any reason including breach of contract, negligence, wilful act or default our liability to you for loss, damage, delay, misdelivery or non-delivery of your shipment or the part affected is limited to the actual cost incurred by you to acquire the shipment or the part affected with in every case an upper limit that does not exceed US$ 20 per kilo.

12. EXCLUSIONS

12.1 We are not liable for any consequential or special damages or loss (including loss of income, profits, markets, reputation, use of contents or loss of an opportunity) or other indirect loss arising from the loss, damage, delay, misdelivery or non-delivery of your shipment even if we had knowledge that such damages or loss might arise.

12.2 We are not liable if your shipment or any part of it is lost, damaged, delayed or mis-delivered or not delivered at all as a result of:

a) circumstances beyond our control such as (but not limited to):

acts of god including earthquakes, cyclones, storms, flooding, fire, disease, fog, snow or frost;

force majeure including war, accidents, acts of public enemies, strikes, embargoes, perils of the air, local disputes or civil commotions;

national or local disruptions in air or ground transportation networks and mechanical problems to modes of transport or machinery;

latent defects or inherent vice in the contents of the shipment.

b) your acts or omissions or those of third parties such as:

you being in breach of (or any other party claiming an interest in the shipment causing you to breach) your obligations under these terms and conditions and in particular those warranties set out in Clause 10;

an act or omission of any customs, airline, airport or government official.

c) The contents of the shipment consisting of any article that is a prohibited item even though we may have accepted the shipment by mistake.

12.3 We are not a common carrier and do not accept from you any liabilities of a common carrier. Under normal circumstances we do not accept shipments sent to and from residential addresses.

13. VALUABLE GOODS

We recommend valuable goods such as precious stones, precious metals, jewellery, money, negotiable instruments, unprotected furniture, glass or china, objects of art, antiques and important documents that include passports, tenders, share and option certificates should not be sent through our network delivery system because it involves the use of mechanical handling and automated sortation equipment together with multiple transhipments on and off vehicles. We will if requested provide a secure transport service on dedicated vehicles or aircraft that avoids multiple transhipments and eliminates the use of automated sortation equipment for the abovementioned types of goods but under no circumstances when carrying such items shall our liability to you exceed the limits contained in Clause 11 above. We recommend you insure your valuable goods before such items are collected by us.

14. INCREASED LIMITS OF LIABILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS

14.1 An increased limit of liability (ITLL) can be purchased for international shipments by you from us for loss or damage to your shipment by completing the relevant box on the consignment note and paying the indicated charge.

14.2 On payment by you to us of our current charge for the increased limit of liability we will increase our limit of liability for loss or damage to your shipment to 45 Euros per kilogram for shipments of 10 kilograms and above and for loss or damage to shipments below 10 kilograms to 450 Euros per shipment. The maximum that we will pay you for the increased limits of liability that you purchase from us is 25,000 Euros per shipment.

14.3 Our increased limit of liability does not apply where:

a) our liability is excluded as set out in these terms and conditions.

b) you fail to elect to purchase the increase in our limit of liability.

c) you fail to pay us our charge for the increase in our limit of liability.

d) you have purchased from us insurance or have purchased from us a product where insurance is included

14.4 For the avoidance of doubt our increased limit of liability does not cover losses of a consequential nature (see clause 12.1 above) or delays in carriage or where the loss has arisen as a result of your breach of your obligations under these terms and conditions.

15. INSURANCE

You may purchase insurance from us for the full value of your parcel and freight shipment (non document shipment) by completing the relevant box on the consignment note and paying the indicated charge to cover you against all risks of loss and damage during carriage up to a maximum limit of 25,000 Euros per shipment. Our insurance does not cover losses of a consequential nature (see clause 12.1 above) or delays in carriage or where the loss has arisen as a result of your breach of your obligations under these terms and conditions.

16. CLAIMS BROUGHT BY THIRD PARTIES

You undertake to us that you shall not permit any other person who has an interest in the shipment to bring a claim or action against us arising from the carriage even though we may have been negligent or in default and if a claim or action is made you will indemnify us against the consequences of the claim or action and the costs and expenses we incur in defending it.

17. CLAIMS PROCEDURE

If you wish to claim for a lost, damaged or delayed shipment you must comply with the following procedure otherwise we reserve the right to reject your claim:

a) you must notify us in writing about the loss, damage or delay within 21 days after delivery of the shipment or within 21 days of the date the shipment should have been delivered and then within the next 21 days you must document your claim by sending us all relevant information about the shipment and the loss, damage or delay suffered. We are not obliged to act on any claim until our carriage charges have been paid nor are you entitled to deduct the amount of your claim from our carriage charges;

b) we will assume the shipment was delivered in good condition unless the receiver has noted any damage on our delivery record when he or she accepted the shipment. In order for us to consider a claim for damage the contents of your shipment and the original packaging must be made available to us for inspection;

c) your right to claim damages against us shall be extinguished unless an action is brought in a court of law within 2 years from the date of delivery of the shipment or from the date on which the shipment should have been delivered or from the date on which the carriage stopped.

18. RATES AND PAYMENT

18.1 You agree to pay our charges for the carriage of the shipment between the locations specified on the consignment note and any value added taxes for the carriage within 7 days from the date of our invoice. Our carriage charges are calculated in accordance with the rates applicable to your shipment as set out in our current rate card. As a matter of course all import duties, value added taxes on goods and all other charges levied on the shipment in the destination country shall be payable to us by the receiver upon delivery of the shipment and if the receiver refuses to pay you agree to pay us these amounts in full within 7 days of us notifying you that the receiver has not paid.

18.2 Our current rate card is available on request from any of our offices in the country from which the shipment is invoiced. We charge for either the actual weight of the shipment or the volumetric weight of the shipment whichever is the higher and the volumetric weight is calculated in accordance with the volumetric conversion equation set out in our rate card.

18.3 The door to door delivery rates shown on our current rate card include provision for simple customs clearance formalities and we reserve the right to charge an extra administration fee where time-consuming excessive customs clearance work is needed to enable us to deliver your shipment to the receiver. Additional charges may therefore be applied in some countries for complex customs clearance activities and these include but are not limited to shipments that require:

(i) formal customs entries involving more than three different commodities.

(ii) customs bonds or the need to deliver goods under a customs bond.

(iii) temporary import facilities

(iv) clearances involving a government department other than the customs authority

We may in some countries make advance payments of import duty or taxes on behalf of the importer and where this additional service is provided a local administration fee will be charged to the receiver and you will be liable for this charge if he or she does not pay us.

18.4 You may give us special invoicing instructions or agree with the receiver of the shipment or another third party that he or she will pay our charges and/or any duties, taxes, assessments, expenses, surcharges and fines levied or incurred by us in connection with the shipment. If the receiver or other third party refuses to pay our charges for the carriage or reimburse us for any of the above costs you agree to pay these amounts within 7 days of us notifying you of the refusal to pay.

18.5 If we fail to deliver your shipment within the time specified and our failure was not caused by any events set out in Clause 12.2 we will charge you for the actual delivery service provided (e.g. before noon) rather than charging the price we quoted for the service you asked for (e.g. before 9am).

18.6 We have a general lien on all your shipments in our possession at any one time that gives us the right to sell the contents and retain the proceeds of sale in settlement of any amounts that you may owe us for previously carried or delivered shipments.

19. YOUR INDEMNITY IN RESPECT OF EMPLOYEES

You agree to indemnify us against and keep us harmless from all costs claims liabilities and demands of any nature arising directly or indirectly from the redundancy selective re-employment or transfer of any employee or former employee of yours or of any supplier or former supplier to you or of any third party which may in any way arise from the commercial relationship between us and you including but not limited to any liability arising under the European Community Acquired Rights Directive (77/187/EEC, as amended by Directive 2001/23/EC) or national implementing legislation thereof or under any other applicable employment legislation.

20. LAW AND JURISDICTION

20.1 In the event that any term or condition is declared invalid or unenforceable such a determination shall not affect the other provisions of this contract of carriage all of which remain in force

20.2 Disputes arising from this contract of carriage relating to the amount of monies owed to us by you shall be subject to the laws and the courts of the country in which the subsidiary or affiliate or branch of 1st Choice Parcels or the independent contractor that accepts your shipment for carriage is based. All other disputes arising from the contract of carriage shall be subject to the laws of The Netherlands and the Rotterdam District Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction except for shipments originating in the USA where the laws of New York State shall apply and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York shall have exclusive jurisdiction.