GENERAL SALES TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1.The legal relationship between NV VAN HOOREBEKE TIMBER (hereinafter referred to as VHT) and the client shall be governed by these general terms and conditions, the latest offer, the invoices, and any special conditions, hereinafter jointly referred to as 'the Agreement’. By placing an order, the client accepts the general terms and conditions as the only valid ones for the order in question and any subsequent orders, to the exclusion of all other provisions to which VHT has not agreed in writing, including the general terms and conditions of the co-contracting party. The general terms and conditions of VHT can only be deviated from in writing.
2. The Agreement shall be governed by Belgian law to the exclusion of the rules on international private law and shall be interpreted as such.
3. Quotations shall be without obligation and shall not bind VHT except in case of explicit acceptance of the order.
4. In the event of delivery in accordance with the offer, the buyer shall be deemed to be familiar with and to have approved the goods by the actual fact of purchase, unless expressly stipulated otherwise on the order confirmation (sale after approval). In the case of sale "on approval" and unless otherwise stipulated on the order confirmation, this approval must take place within 8 days of delivery, failing which the goods shall be deemed to have been approved and accepted. Visible defects shall be notified to VHT at the time of delivery, failing which they shall be deemed to have been accepted.
5. Goods shall be transported at the risk and peril of the buyer, even if the transport price is included in the sales price. No complaints shall be accepted if they occur more than three days after collection. In the event of a complaint, the entire consignment must be kept at the disposal of the sellers for inspection.
6. Invoices are payable at the registered office of the company within 30 days from the invoice date and without discount in case of cash payment, unless otherwise agreed in writing between the parties.
7. In the event of full or partial non-payment of the invoice within 30 days of the invoice date, interest on arrears shall be owed, by operation of law and without prior notice of default, from the date of invoice until the date of full payment, at the rate specified in Article 5 of the Act of 2 August 2002 combating late payment in commercial transactions. In addition, a fixed compensation of 10% on the unpaid amount with a minimum of EUR 250 is due. Conversely, this also applies to the amounts owed by VHT. In the event of full or partial non-payment of an invoice, any other outstanding invoices shall become immediately due and payable.
8. In the event of overdue payment, VHT reserves the right, without prior notice of default, to suspend its performance, regardless of whether such performance results from the present or previous or subsequent agreements, and only to resume such performance, subject to other provisions, upon receipt of the overdue payments. The price to be paid for the suspended performance shall remain due without prejudice to any default interests and damages. If the buyer fails to fulfil his obligations under the agreement, VHT reserves the right, after prior notice of default, to dissolve the agreement without judicial intervention, without prejudice to the right to any additional compensation. In the event of bankruptcy, evident insolvency or force majeure, VHT reserves the right to unilaterally dissolve the agreement and without the need for prior notice of default, without this giving rise to any compensation or financial compensation.
9. The goods shall remain the property of the seller until full payment of the sales price. The burden of risk shall transfer from the seller to the buyer from the moment of delivery.
10. VHT is entitled to demand a first-rate guarantee from the buyer until payment has been received. In anticipation of this guarantee, VHT shall be entitled to suspend delivery of the goods. If no such guarantee is obtained within 14 days of the request, VHT may consider the sale cancelled, without prejudice to any costs and interest on arrears that shall be borne by the buyer.
11. If the goods have not been collected within the period stipulated on the order confirmation, VHT shall be entitled, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the buyer, within 7 days of a demand by registered letter, either to move the goods or to transport them to the buyer at the buyer's expense and risk. After the expiry of the collection period, as stipulated in the order confirmation, VHT shall also be entitled to claim additional demurrage from the buyer for the uncollected merchandise. These general terms and conditions shall also apply to the invoicing of this demurrage.
12. All disputes relating to the agreement and the invoicing between parties fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the judicial district of East Flanders, Ghent division. VHT may also opt to have the dispute settled before the court of the debtor's registered office or place of residence.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS IN THE CASE OF RESERVED STOCK.
13. Unless otherwise agreed in writing with VHT, merchandise that is the subject of a reserved stock shall be held by VHT for a period of up to 8 weeks after availability for delivery to the buyer. After the expiry of this period, VHT shall charge additional demurrage amounting to EUR 8 per cubic metre per month. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, if after 16 weeks from the goods being available for delivery, the goods have still not been collected, VHT shall be entitled, within 7 days of a demand by registered letter, to transport the goods to the buyer by lorry or by rail at the expense and risk of the buyer.
THE NETHERLANDS
14. The goods remain the property of the seller as long as the buyer has not paid the seller the full purchase price owed, even if the goods have been processed. Once the goods have been delivered, the buyer bears all risks of loss and destruction. The drawing and/or acceptance of bills of exchange or other negotiable documents does not imply novation and does not constitute a derogation from the terms and conditions of sales.
GERMANY
Extended Retention of Title:
15. Ownership of the delivered goods is reserved to secure all claims to which the seller is entitled from current and future business transactions until all outstanding balances against the buyer and his group companies have been settled. Our ownership extends to new items resulting from the processing of the reserved goods. The customer produces the new item for us to the exclusion of its own ownership and stores it for us. This shall not give rise to any claims against us.
16. In the case of the processing of our reserved goods with goods of other suppliers whose ownership rights also extend to the new item, we acquire co-ownership of the new products together with these suppliers – to the exclusion of any co-ownership acquisition on the part of the customer – whereby our co-ownership share corresponds to the ratio of the invoice value of our reserved goods to the total invoice value of all co-processed reserved goods.
17. The customer hereby assigns to us as security his claims from the sale of reserved goods from our current and future deliveries of goods with all ancillary rights in the amount of our share of ownership.
18. As long as the customer duly fulfils his obligations arising from the business relationship with us, he can dispose of the goods belonging to us in the normal course of business and collect the receivables assigned to us himself