These General Conditions for the Provision of Services govern the contractual relationship between Contemar – Companhia Marítima de Contentores, Lda. and its clients and shall apply to all services provided by the company, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

These conditions supplement the commercial proposals, booking confirmations and other documents issued by Contemar, defining the rights and obligations of the parties, as well as the rules applicable to the provision of freight forwarding services.

Whenever applicable, the services shall also be governed by the General Conditions for the Provision of Services by Freight Forwarding Companies approved by APAT – Associação dos Transitários de Portugal, as well as by national legislation, international conventions and any other applicable regulations.

The acceptance of any commercial proposal, transport instruction, booking or award of services implies full knowledge and acceptance of these conditions.

For the purposes of these “General Conditions”, the following definitions shall apply:

• Client/Contracting Party: any person with rights or obligations relating to the goods under a contract for the provision of freight forwarding services entered into with a freight forwarder, or arising from the freight forwarder’s activities in relation to such services.
• Goods: any property, including live animals, as well as containers, pallets, transport equipment or packaging equipment not supplied by the freight forwarder.
• Dangerous Goods: goods officially classified as such, as well as goods which are, may become, or may assume a dangerous, flammable, radioactive, toxic or harmful nature.
• Written/In Writing: any visually expressed means of permanently representing or reproducing words, including letters, fax, telex, telegram, email or any other electronic record.
• Freight Forwarding Services: services of any kind relating to the transport, consolidation, deconsolidation, storage, handling, packaging, logistics and/or distribution of goods, as well as ancillary and consultancy services connected with the shipment of goods, including the arrangement of insurance and collection of cash-on-delivery payments.
• Freight Forwarder: any person who enters into a contract for the provision of freight forwarding services with a Client.
• Carrier: any person who transports the goods using their own means of transport, referred to as the actual carrier, or any person subject to the liability of a carrier by having expressly or implicitly assumed such liability, referred to as the contracting carrier.

Any and all services provided by the Freight Forwarder within the scope of the activity and legal framework established by its legal statute, approved by Decree-Law No. 255/99 of 7 July, shall, unless otherwise agreed, be governed by these general contractual clauses.

The Freight Forwarder shall provide its services in accordance with the Client’s instructions, as agreed.

In the absence of written contractual conditions providing otherwise, the Client, whether acting as the owner or holder of the goods or merchandise and whether or not acting as an agent or representative of another party, shall be bound towards the Freight Forwarder by the rights and obligations established in these General Conditions.

1. Unless expressly stipulated otherwise, the prices quoted by the Freight Forwarder shall not include duties, fees, taxes or charges imposed by tax, customs or other official authorities and shall apply only to cargo whose nature, weight and dimensions are considered normal for transport under the applicable regulations.
2. The prices referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not include costs or charges relating to detention, storage, repairs or other ancillary matters, unless expressly included in the conditions of the proposal and not duly and formally excluded by the Client.

The agreed prices may be amended if circumstances arise which alter the conditions on which the proposals were based, including:

• Inaccuracies or subsequent changes in the information provided by the Client regarding the contents, weight, volume or value of the items forming the subject matter of the service, or regarding the applicable purchase and sale conditions;
• The routing of the transport by means different from those proposed by the Freight Forwarder, or traffic interruptions on the planned routes requiring the use of more expensive means or routes;
• Delays in the performance of the services resulting from natural or political events, or events of any other nature not attributable to the Freight Forwarder;
• Changes to regulations, conventions, charges, timetables or tariffs;
• Exchange-rate fluctuations.

Any unforeseen expenses incurred by the Freight Forwarder due to force majeure or unforeseen circumstances, in the performance and exercise of its duties, or in order to ensure the conservation or preservation of the goods or merchandise forming the subject matter of the contract, shall entitle the Freight Forwarder to an appropriate and enforceable revision of the agreed conditions.

For the purposes of the application and performance of the contractual clauses, proposals shall remain valid for the period stated by the Freight Forwarder.

In the absence of such an indication, proposals shall expire fifteen days after the date on which they were submitted to the Client.

1. The Client shall provide, in writing and in a clear, precise and complete manner, the instructions and specifications concerning the goods forming the subject matter of each contract.
2. Upon receipt of the instructions, the Freight Forwarder shall review them in order to verify their conformity with the services which it has undertaken to provide.

Upon receipt of documents issued by the Freight Forwarder, the Client shall carefully examine them and immediately report any errors or discrepancies so that the Freight Forwarder may make the necessary corrections in due time.

1. If the Client’s documents or declarations contain errors, inaccuracies, omissions or a lack of information necessary for the proper performance of the contract, particularly regarding the nature, value, weight, dimensions or contents of the items forming the subject matter of the contract, the Client shall bear full responsibility for any consequences arising from such irregularities.
2. If the Freight Forwarder becomes aware of any anomaly or irregularity referred to in the preceding paragraph which may give rise to liability and/or losses for either contracting party or for third parties, it shall immediately inform the Client so that the anomaly or irregularity may be remedied in due time.
3. If the anomalies or irregularities referred to in the preceding paragraphs are not remedied in sufficient time to allow the Freight Forwarder to perform the services falling within its duties, the Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to terminate the contract or perform it in accordance with the contents of the Client’s documents and declarations. In such case, all losses and liabilities arising directly or indirectly from those anomalies or irregularities shall be borne by the Client.
4. In the case of goods forming the subject matter of a purchase and sale agreement, any non-compliance of the Client’s instructions with the conditions applicable to that agreement shall be the Client’s responsibility.

1. The Client shall be responsible for losses resulting from insufficient or inappropriate packaging.
2. If, at any time during the performance of the service, the packaging is found to be damaged, the Freight Forwarder may carry out the necessary repairs at the Client’s expense, after giving the Client prior notice, unless the urgency of the repairs makes such notice impossible.
3. The circumstances giving rise to such urgency shall be duly justified.

1. Unless expressly accepted in writing on a case-by-case basis, the Freight Forwarder shall not handle or arrange the transport of dangerous goods, goods considered to be dangerous, or any other goods capable of causing loss or damage to third parties.
2. If a Client delivers goods of this nature without the Freight Forwarder’s express acceptance, the Client shall be liable for all losses or damage caused to the Freight Forwarder and/or third parties and shall indemnify them for all damage, costs, fines or claims arising from such goods.

Such goods may be destroyed or otherwise dealt with under the supervision of the competent authority whenever this is considered appropriate.

The Freight Forwarder shall only be required to comply with special conditions concerning the delivery of goods and/or the collection of amounts if it has received and accepted the Client’s express written instructions to that effect.

• 1. The Freight Forwarder may arrange other operations on behalf of the Contracting Party, including the collection or storage of the goods or merchandise, whether in compliance with instructions received from the Contracting Party, while awaiting further instructions, or as a consequence of interruptions or postponements affecting the transport.

In all cases, the Freight Forwarder shall immediately inform the Contracting Party.

• 2. In the absence of special instructions from the Contracting Party, the Freight Forwarder shall use the routes and means which it considers appropriate or available for forwarding the goods or merchandise entrusted to it.

The Freight Forwarder shall only be obliged to carry out procedures or formalities before the competent authorities where expressly requested to do so by the Client.

In any event, the Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for losses resulting from the rejection of an application, delays caused by those authorities, or inadequacies in the information provided by the Client for such purposes.

Unless expressly instructed otherwise, the Freight Forwarder may transport the goods under a consolidation arrangement, including together with goods belonging to different clients, and may use the routes and means best suited to the interests of the cargo and the Client.

The Freight Forwarder shall not be responsible for arranging any insurance contract intended to cover the risk of loss or damage suffered by the goods or merchandise during transport whose organisation and management have been contractually entrusted to it, unless it has been expressly, duly and timely instructed to do so, particularly regarding the nature of the risks and the amounts to be insured.

If, for any reason, the consignee refuses to take delivery of the items forming the subject matter of the service or has ceased trading, such items shall remain at the expense and risk of the Contracting Party, or of any party replacing it in relation to the Freight Forwarder.

Such party shall remain liable towards the Freight Forwarder for all costs relating to the service and any return of the goods.

1. Failure to pay an invoice issued by the Freight Forwarder within a maximum period of fifteen days from the date of its presentation, unless expressly agreed otherwise, shall place the debtor in default and give rise to an obligation to pay interest at the statutory rate.
2. Where no advance provision of funds has been made and the invoices include disbursements in foreign currency, such invoices shall be subject to any adjustments resulting from exchange-rate fluctuations occurring up to the payment date, as well as any bank charges arising from the relevant transaction.

Without prejudice to the obligation to pay under the preceding provisions, the Client shall have the right to submit claims regarding invoices or debit notes issued by the Freight Forwarder, provided that such claims are duly substantiated and submitted within fifteen days of the date on which the relevant invoice or debit note was presented.

The Freight Forwarder may request an advance provision of funds from the Client whenever freight charges, customs duties or other duly justified expenses are to be paid on the Client’s behalf.

1. The Freight Forwarder shall be liable towards its Client for any failure to perform its obligations, as well as for obligations undertaken by third parties with whom it has contracted.
2. The Freight Forwarder’s liability arising from the contracts entered into shall be limited to the amounts established by law or convention for the carrier entrusted with the actual performance of the transport, unless the parties agree on a different limit.
3. In all circumstances, the Freight Forwarder’s liability shall not exceed the actual value of the loss or the value of the goods or merchandise, whichever is lower.

1. Without prejudice to the Freight Forwarder’s right to charge an appropriate storage fee or claim fair compensation for any losses incurred, failure to collect or remove, in due time, goods entrusted to the Freight Forwarder shall constitute grounds for termination of the contract.
2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the Freight Forwarder shall notify the party with an interest in the goods, informing that party of all applicable conditions and the deadline for collecting the goods.

Unless expressly stipulated otherwise, freight forwarding companies may exercise a right of retention over goods entrusted to them under the relevant contracts as security for claims arising from those contracts.

The right to compensation arising from the liability of the freight forwarding company shall become time-barred ten months after the date on which the contracted service was completed.

1. In the event of court proceedings, the courts of the place in which the Freight Forwarder has its registered office shall have jurisdiction, and the parties expressly waive the jurisdiction of any other courts.
2. However, where the dispute or the provision of the services relates to a branch or local office of the company, the courts of the place in which the relevant establishment is located shall have jurisdiction.

Approved by APAT – Associação dos Transitários de Portugal on 22 October 2000.

Applicable pursuant to Decree-Law No. 255/99 of 7 July.
Notice given pursuant to and for the purposes of Article 5 of Decree-Law No. 446/85 of 25 October.