General Terms and Conditions

The present general terms and conditions apply to all services and operations performed under any title and using any mode of transport by the companies DUPESSEY&CO, DUPESSEY-DISTRIBUTION, DUPESSEY-STRADIS, and DUPESSEY-TRADE, hereinafter referred to as “DUPESSEY”. Any commitment or transaction with DUPESSEY implies full acceptance, without any reservation, by the client of the conditions defined below. No special conditions or other general conditions issued by the client may prevail over these general conditions, unless explicitly and in writing accepted by DUPESSEY.

If any provision of these General Terms and Conditions is declared null or deemed unwritten, all other provisions shall remain applicable.

Article 1: DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of these general terms and conditions, the following terms are defined as follows:

Client: the party contracting the service with DUPESSEY.

Parcel: an object or a set of objects, regardless of weight, dimensions, and volume, forming a single unit at the time of transport handover (bin, cage, crate, carton, container, pallet strapped or wrapped by the client, roll, etc.), conditioned by the sender before collection, even if the content is detailed in the transport document.

Transport operation: the movement of goods by DUPESSEY or by a subcontractor, including any load transfer inherent to this type of operation (dock transfer, door opening, loading/unloading, dock handling between two transports, etc.).

Article 2: LIABILITY

2.1 Liability for subcontractors

DUPESSEY’s liability is limited to that incurred by the subcontractors in the operation entrusted to them. When the liability limits of intermediaries have not been disclosed to the client, they are deemed to be identical to those of DUPESSEY.

For road transport operations that, due to their execution conditions, do not fall within the scope of the CMR, particularly in cases of load transfer, but where the shipment and delivery locations are in two different countries, DUPESSEY’s liability shall be limited to the ceiling provided for international transport as detailed in section 2.2.1.

2.2 DUPESSEY’s Liability

2.2.1 Road transport of goods (subject to the “CMR” Convention for international transport and the latest version of the general standard contract for national transport).

2.2.1.a) Losses and damages:

If DUPESSEY’s liability is engaged, for any reason and under any title, it is strictly limited as follows:

For international transport: 8.33 SDR (exchange rate available at www.imf.org) per kilogram of damaged or missing goods.

For national transport:
– For shipments under 3 tons: €33 per kilogram of missing or damaged goods for each object included in the shipment, with a maximum of €1,000 per lost, incomplete, or damaged parcel, regardless of weight, volume, dimensions, nature, or value.
– For shipments equal to or greater than 3 tons: €20 per kilogram of missing or damaged goods for each object included in the shipment, with a maximum per lost, incomplete, or damaged parcel, regardless of weight, volume, dimensions, nature, or value, of the product of the shipment’s gross weight (in tons) multiplied by €3,200.

2.2.1.b) Delay:

Pickup dates and delivery times are not contractually binding and are provided for informational purposes only.

However, if DUPESSEY’s personal liability is engaged due to damages caused by a delay, compensation shall be strictly limited to the transport cost of the goods. In no case shall this compensation exceed the amount due in case of loss or damage.

2.2.2 Other modes of transport

For all other modes of transport, DUPESSEY’s liability shall be limited to the indemnity ceilings set by the applicable legal or regulatory provisions.

Article 3: RESERVATIONS

The carrier’s liability can only be engaged in case of loss or damage if specific and justified reservations are made on the transport document. It is the responsibility of the consignee-receiver to carry out the necessary and sufficient verifications and to confirm these reservations in the legal forms and deadlines. Failing this, no action can be taken against DUPESSEY and its subcontractors.

Article 4: INSURANCE

DUPESSEY may, upon written order and repeated for each shipment by the client, subscribe on their behalf to an “Ad Valorem” insurance (or “cargo insurance”) in exchange for an administrative fee. The client’s written order must explicitly specify the risks to be covered and the value to be insured. In the absence of precise specifications, only ordinary risks will be insured.

In this specific case, acting as an agent for the client, DUPESSEY cannot in any way be considered an insurer.

Article 5: DANGEROUS GOODS

In case of transport and/or storage of dangerous goods, even in minimal quantities, the client is required to inform DUPESSEY about the nature of said goods and to provide all necessary information regarding the applicable regulations. In case of a dispute, the absence, insufficiency, or inaccuracy of the information provided by the client releases DUPESSEY from any liability.

Article 6: PAYMENT TERMS

Service fees are payable within 30 days from the invoice date, without discount, at the place of issue. The client is always responsible for ensuring payment.

The unilateral deduction of alleged damages from the amount of the due service fees is prohibited.

When, exceptionally, payment deadlines have been granted, any partial payment will first be applied to the non-preferred portion of the claims. The failure to pay a single installment will result in the immediate maturity of the remaining balance without formalities, making it immediately due, even in the case of accepted drafts. Late payment interest will automatically be applied if the amounts due are paid after the agreed payment date indicated on the invoice. These late payment interests will be equivalent to three times the legal interest rate, in accordance with Article L441-6 of the French Commercial Code, along with a fixed compensation for collection costs of 40 euros as per Article D441-5 of the same Code.

Article 7: LIEN RIGHTS

DUPESSEY holds a contractual lien right, granting a general retention and preference right over all goods, valuables, and documents in its possession as a guarantee for all claims it holds against the client, including past claims unrelated to the current operations, provided that they are effectively in its hands.

Article 8: LIMITATION PERIOD

In road transport matters, all claims arising from the contract between the parties are subject to a limitation period of one year from the delivery date or, in the absence of delivery, from the scheduled delivery date.

Claims related to other modes of transport shall be subject to the limitation periods provided for in the applicable legal provisions governing the transport in question.

For other services, liability claims must be filed within one year from the date of non-performance of the contract.

Article 9: JURISDICTION CLAUSE

In the event of a dispute or litigation, the Commercial Court of Annecy shall have exclusive jurisdiction, even in cases of multiple defendants or warranty claims.

Article 10: VALIDITY

If multiple versions of these general terms and conditions are presented to the client, only the most recent version shall be considered valid.

General terms and conditions applicable from January 2022.

General terms and conditions freely accessible on our website www.dupessey.com