General Terms & Conditions for Food Contracts
General Terms & Conditions for Food Contracts
with NAF Trading A/S
Doc. ID: GTC.1/NAF1.1 20110114
01. Application - The terms and conditions stated herein shall apply to all contracts under which NAF Trading A/S (in the following “NAF”) purchase food products in its own name and for its own account.
02. “Seller” means any company or person under contract to supply food products to NAF as per an NAF order confirmation.
03. “B/L” means Bill of Lading for consignments shipped by ocean vessel and shall be considered to mean also other similar transport documents for consignments transported by other means.
04. “Bag” means bag, carton or any other packing used for the food product in question.
05. Notification of non-compliance – If the Seller finds that there are terms and conditions (herein or in any contract document) with which it is unable to comply, then the Seller shall notify NAF immediately with a view to agreeing alternative solutions to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.
06. On receipt of an order confirmation from NAF the Seller shall note the NAF order confirmation number and use the order confirmation number in all contract communications with NAF in order for NAF to comply with the traceability requirements of food authorities and/or FLO Fairtrade Standards.
07. For any consignment of products the Seller shall provide all customary documents as well as documents which may additionally be requested by NAF. At least the Seller’s invoice and the B/L shall state the NAF order confirmation number. All other documents concerning the contract shall contain references that will link them to the Seller’s invoice or the NAF order confirmation number.
08. Food Contact Materials – All food contact materials shall be new, food grade materials complying with EU rules at the time of shipment, cf. European Contract for Coffee (European Coffee Federation, 2007 Edition, Article 5 “Packing”).
When necessary and if so requested by NAF the Seller shall assist NAF in obtaining documentation for compliance with this item 08.
09. Disputes – Without prejudice to the stipulations of the European Contract for Coffee the parties to any given purchase contract shall seek to settle amicably any quality, weight or other claims that may be raised. Claims shall be made in writing by one party to the other, and the party raising the claim shall allow the party against which the claim is being raised ample time to respond and to present its own views. Resolution of a claim dispute through legal proceedings or formal arbitration shall be considered by both parties to any such dispute only as a last resort.
Certified Products
10. On receipt of an order confirmation from NAF for certified organic products and/or FLO Fairtrade certified products not already imported into the European Union, the Seller shall declare without delay and not later than 7 days as from receipt of the order confirmation the name of the exporter and the name of the producer of the product(s) stated in the order confirmation and provide
- for organic products: currently valid master certificate(s) issued by the organic certifying body for exporter and producer
- for FLO Fairtrade products: the FLO ID numbers of exporter and producer.
Should the exporter and/or the producer be unknown to the Seller on receipt of the order confirmation from NAF, then the Seller shall without delay and not later than 7 days as from receipt of the order confirmation notify NAF accordingly and send the information to NAF as soon as the information becomes available.
Should the Seller for any given contract have reason to change exporter and/or producer, the Seller shall immediately notify NAF accordingly and provide the information stated in the first paragraph of this item 10.
The Seller shall not under any circumstances ship or allow shipment of any organic products before NAF has confirmed that the consignee of the products in question has obtained import licence for the products/producer in question.
11. On receipt of an order confirmation from NAF for certified organic products and/or FLO Fairtrade certified products already imported into the European Union, the Seller shall provide without delay and not later than 7 days as from receipt of the order confirmation
- for organic products: currently valid documentation (certificate) to the effect that the Seller is certified to sell organic products
- for FLO Fairtrade products: the FLO ID number of the Seller and the name and FLO ID number of the producer.
Certified Products – Documents
12. For consignments of certified organic products the Seller’s invoice and the B/L shall state the term “organic” in connection with the product description.
If the consignment is being delivered prior to customs clearance into the EU the Seller’s invoice shall further state the name of the certifying body, and the documents to be provided by the Seller shall specifically comprise a so-called inspection certificate (also known as transaction certificate) issued by the certifying body. The original transaction certificate is to be made available to NAF or consignee not later than 8 days before arrival of the consignment at the destination.
For consignments of certified organic products delivered after customs clearance into the EU and having been subject to manufacturing and/or processing/packing in the EU, the Seller’s invoice shall also state the code number of the control authority or control body to which the operator who has carried out the most recent production or preparation operation is subject.
13. For consignments of FLO Fairtrade certified products documents shall be prepared in such a way as to comply with the FLO Fairtrade Standards in force at any time, and the Seller’s invoice and the B/L shall state in connection with the product description the term “FLO Fairtrade” as well as names and the FLO ID numbers of NAF, the Seller, the exporter and the producer.
14. For consignments of other certified products (e.g. Utz or Rainforest Alliance) the Seller’s invoice shall state in connection with the product description a statement to the effect that the product is certified by the certification body in question, e.g. in the format “Utz Certified” or “Rainforest Alliance Certified”. The documents to be provided by the Seller shall specifically include the relevant certificates.
15. Several statements - The use of one statement concerning organic, FLO Fairtrade or other certified products shall not rule out the use of any other statement. Thus, documents referring to a consignment that is e.g. both organic and FLO Fairtrade certified as well as Utz certified shall be described in addition to the general product description as “organic, FLO Fairtrade and Utz certified”.
Certified Products – Bag Markings
16. Markings/consignments delivered in bags - For consignments not delivered in bulk the Seller shall mark bags in accordance with the requirements for documents as stated in items 12 through 15 above i.e. (for instance)
a. All bags to be marked with NAF order confirmation number
b. Bags of organic products to be marked “organic”
c. Bags of Utz certified products to be marked “Utz Certified”
d. Bags of Rainforest Alliance certified products to be marked “Rainforest Alliance”
e. Bags of FLO Fairtrade products to be marked in accordance with the requirements of the FLO Fairtrade Standards in force at any time and specifically: “FLO Fairtrade” + “Producer FLO ID] + Exporter FLO ID] + [Seller FLO ID] ” + “NAF FLO ID 1030” the names of the operators being stated in connection with FLO ID numbers
f. Bags containing organic products having been subject to manufacturing and/or processing/packing in the EU are to be marked with the code number of the control authority or control body to which the operator who has carried out the most recent production or preparation operation is subject.
In the event that NAF order confirmation number and/or NAF name and FLO ID cannot be included in the bag marking (e.g. because the purchase by NAF was not known to the Seller at the time of origin packing/bagging) the bags shall be marked with an alternative unique identification allowing traceability (e.g. ICO number) and the Seller shall inform NAF without undue delay of such identification.
Copenhagen, 14 January 2011
NAF Trading A/S