Paper Trade Customs

Deliveries May Be Suspended Or Cancelled In The Event

Force Majeure: Any contingency arising beyond the control of the seller or buyer such as act of God, War, riot, strike, lockout, civil commotion, fire, flood, drought, interruption of transport, interruption of power or water supplied to the paper mill, act of Government etc.

Any accident and/or damage whether partial or total to the premises, machinery, etc. during such time as may be required to make good repair such accident or damage.

The seller or buyer, as the case may be, shall give to the other party immediate notice of the cause of such suspension / cancellation as the case may be.

In the case of suspension of deliveries, the same shall be resumed as soon as it is practicable, after giving due notice to the buyer, of his intention to resume supplies.

If the suspension of deliveries shall continue for a period of more than two months from the commencement of such suspension or interruption of deliveries either party may, by notice in writing to the other, cancel the portion of the order affected by the suspension.

Goods in transit, at the time of any notice, as aforesaid being given by the buyer, must be accepted by the buyer not withstanding such notice.

In the case of orders/contracts for delivery in installments each delivery shall be considered as a separate contract.

The goods or any portion thereof, are not dispatched within fifteen days of the promised dispatch date given by the mills, customers will have the option of canceling the same, by intimating in writing to the effect to the mills within fifteen days of the promised date but if no such notification of cancellation is received by the company, the goods will be dispatched and the buyer must take delivery provided, however, that if the goods or any portion thereof from unavoidable causes such as want of accommodation on railway or strikes of operatives of carrier, accidents, mill breakdown or any other case of force majeure, are dispatched late, buyers must accept them if dispatched within two months of the date stipulated whether the company has notified buyers or not.

Mills shall issue order confirmation and specify date of delivery. In absence of any delivery period it would be assumed that delivery will be within six weeks of confirmation by mills.

 Delayed Deliveries

Specifications of markings (along with sample in case of special grades or orders) shall be sent to the seller in reasonable time but not later than eight weeks before the due date of delivery required by the buyer. If the paper ordered /contracted for acceptance, by ready for delivery on the specified date, and the buyers does not take delivery when requested by the seller to do so, whole of the delivery be not ready, the seller may invoice such portion of the order as is ready, unless a fixed date for delivery for the whole is agreed to between the buyer and the seller. In case samples are not received in time, the supply will conform to the mill’s normal specifications for similar quality.

Paper and board stores at the mill beyond the agreed date of dispatch shall be subject to a rental as is determined by the mill. The maximum period of storage shall be four weeks from the date on which goods were scheduled for dispatch, as mentioned aforesaid, and the seller shall thereafter have the right to dispose of the stored material at the risk of the buyer.

Where the material mentioned in X(1) above is dispatched to the buyer does not take delivery thereof the transaction shall be deemed to have been repudiated by the buyer and the seller shall have the right to dispose off the stores at the risk of the buyer.

 Claims

The customer shall not withhold the payment because the complaint has been lodged.

Claims on any goods, whatsoever must be made in writing within 30 days from the receipt of goods, but this is not to operate where defective quality cannot reveal itself during this period. In such cases claims for defective quality must be lodged in writing within six weeks from the receipt of the goods. In all cases of defective goods claims must be settled only on the quantity produced for inspection. In certain cases depending upon the nature of claim it shall be necessary to produce bundles or reams or reels in original packing for inspection before consideration of claim. The claim would be settled only on the basis of intact and defective goods made available for inspection.

Mills should acknowledge the receipt of complaint within 7 days from the date of receipt of letter of complaint. Till then the buyer shall carefully store the goods in the warehouse.

Goods under complaint should be inspected within 3 weeks from the receipt of complaint by an authorized representative of the mill.

Inspection should be carried out and a copy of the inspection report duly signed by all parties shall be given wherever practical to the parties concerned.

Final settlement of claim amounts and payments should be made within 30 days from the date of inspection.

If an order is executed in successive lots of delivery, each delivery shall be treated as a separate contract and claims or disputes about one delivery shall not affect the balance of the contract.

 Contracting Out

Any or all these terms may be varied or made inapplicable by the terms of any specific Contract.

Arbitration :
All disputes arising under any order or contract shall be submitted to arbitration as per Sub-clauses 8 of clause XV.

Other Terms :
All contracts are deemed to be entered into at the head office/registered office of the Mill concerned. The seller may call for payment at any of their office suiting their convenience.
Delivery of goods which may arrive at the buyer’s station must be taken and buyer must accept railway receipt or lorry carrier note and/or mill draft/bill as correct without further proof of correct dispatch.

Each delivery under a contract is to be considered a separate contract. The date for payment specified in the terms are of the essence of the contract. If the buyers fail to pay on the due dates for payment the company will be entitled (a) to treat such failure as a repudiation, (b) to repudiate further performance of all deliveries to be made under the indent, and (c) to claim damages forthwith for the breach of the contract in respect of all deliveries.

Further, if the buyers fail to pay on the due dates under any indent, the company will be entitled to stop supplies under other indents and claim damages, including interest at the discretion of the mill.

Indent or portion of same, to be considered executed as soon as placed on rail or lorry at Mill siding, on board steamer and rail or lorry receipt or shipping documents obtained. The company is not be held responsible for any delay in transit by rail, road, or river/sea to buyer’s station or port.
Qualities to be as near as possible to those of the company’s current standards unless otherwise contracted for, or mandatory under any act of Government of India.
Railway receipt or lorry carrier note, bill of lading shall be proof of date of dispatch.
Notice from one party of the other shall be deemed to have been duly delivered if left at the other’s last known place of business or if posted in a registered cover addressed to the other at such place.

All disputes whatsoever arising on or out of or in connection with or arising in any way with any contracts / indents / order acceptances for supply of the goods by the seller paper Mill to the buyer, shall be referred to a mutually agreed party and or parties or if not then referred jointly to Paper Mills Association and Federation of Paper Traders Associations of India.
All risks and responsibilities of the paper mill shall cease as soon as goods are handed over to the authorized carriers.

Buyers shall accept and pay for all goods dispatched against orders.

Time of shipment and/or delivery is to be understood relating to manufacturers railhead or port of shipment and with reservation against delay of the availability of bookings or scheduled shipping opportunity. Where a date for time of delivery is qualified by the words about or approximately or some similar expression, it shall mean that the seller mill is allowed a margin of four weeks either way, any how with the reservation against delay of rail booking availability or scheduled shipping opportunity.

Where goods are sold c.i.f. insurance shall cover the amount of invoice only, unless the buyer within reasonable period of time, before shipment, shall have requested the seller to issue for a large amount, in which case the premium on the excess value shall be to the account of the buyer.

Any duties or other public charges imposed by any country into which goods are imported, shall be borne by the buyer and any such charges by the exporting country shall also be to the account of the buyer.

Legal prohibitions subsequent to the conclusion of the contract affecting the import of goods into the importing country shall entitle the buyer to cancel the order, except as to goods which are due for delivery not more than two months from the said event and which are already in the course of manufacture or shipment/transit.

Mills should insure goods for transit risk and recover the premium from customer, unless otherwise agreed.To get a copy of The Paper Trade Customs, kindly contact the FPTA’s office.