1. Preamble
These General Conditions shall regulate (unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing between the parties) the obligations arising from contractual relationships entered into by the Freight Forwarder and from acts or facts performed by employees, agents and servants of the Freight Forwarder; these General Conditions shall also define, to the extent and in the manner provided for, the liability of the Freight Forwarder.
These Conditions shall be published in digital format on www.aprilenet.com.

2. Definitions
In these General Conditions the following terms shall have the meaning specified below.

a) Freight Forwarder: The party receiving the mandate of forwarding for the conclusion of the contract of carriage and/or for the performance of one or more ancillary operations.

b) Freight Forwarder-Carrier: The party who materially performs all or part of the carriage, or assumes (by ad hoc agreement) expressly the performance thereof.

c) Principal: The party who gives the shipping mandate for the conclusion of the contract of carriage and/or for the performance of one or more ancillary operations.

d) Shipper: The party who is the consignor or shipper under the contract of carriage concluded by the forwarder.

e) Carrier: The party who materially performs or undertakes the performance of the carriage.

The term “Freight Forwarder” shall be deemed to refer also to the Freight Forwarder-carrier, unless the provision distinguishes the two cases. The term “Freight Forwarder acting as carrier” shall always be deemed to refer specifically and exclusively to the case under letter b) above.

3. Scope of Application
The Principal expressly accepts, both when acting on his own behalf and when acting for others in entering into the contract of shipment and/or of carriage, that these General Conditions shall have and find full and unconditional application to all contractual relationships with the Freight Forwarder as well as to all actions and claims, also of extra-contractual nature, against the latter.

4. Assumption/acceptance of assignments
The Freight Forwarder, by virtue of the mandate received, as a rule in writing, shall enter into the contract of carriage as well as carry out the ancillary operations, acting with the necessary discretion, with the right to carry out the forwarding of the goods by grouping them with other goods (unless otherwise ordered in writing) always acting with the utmost diligence, acting as Freight Forwarder and not as Freight Forwarder-Carrier.

The Freight Forwarder, unless otherwise agreed in writing, shall not accept the performance of forwarding and/or transport activities concerning dangerous goods, which may cause damage to people, animals, other goods or things, or are subject to deterioration, are unpacked or have insufficient/inadequate packaging, as well as valuables, coins, precious goods, works of art. By way of example and not limitation, dangerous goods are goods classified as hazardous by IATA, IMO, ICAO, or covered by ADR/RID regulations.

If such goods are entrusted to the Freight Forwarder without the latter’s prior consent or if the Freight Forwarder accepts the mandate on the basis of wrong, incomplete or untrue information about the nature or value of the goods, the Freight Forwarder shall have the right to terminate the contract or, if circumstances so require, to refuse, deposit or otherwise dispose of the goods or even, in case of danger, to destroy them.

The Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to ask for fees calculated on a lump-sum basis pursuant to article 1740 of the Civil Code acting in this case as Freight Forwarder and not as Freight Forwarder-Carrier.

5. Delivery terms
The Freight Forwarder does not guarantee the respect of delivery terms and therefore shall in no case be held liable for delays in pick-up and carriage and/or delivery of any shipment irrespective of the cause of such delays or of requests by the Principal for particular delivery terms even if resulting from the shipping documents.

6. Declarations and Warranties of the Principal/Sender
The Principal and the Shipper warrant and therefore declare:

• That the shipment has been correctly and accurately described in all transport documents.
• That they have taken note of the goods or goods which the Freight Forwarder has declared not acceptable for carriage, and that the same have not been included in the shipment.
• That the nature of the goods, the number, the quantity, the quality, the content of the packages, the gross weight (including the weight of the packages and pallets and the overall dimensions of the same), the dimensions and any other information provided are true and correct.
• That the packaging and labelling used, in relation to the goods contained and the mode of transport, are deemed suitable.The Principal and the Shipper expressly declare to indemnify and hold the Freight Forwarder harmless from any damage, claim or expense of any nature whatsoever arising from the breach of the above mentioned warranties, as well as from the lack, insufficiency or inadequacy of the packaging, or from the failure to indicate on the goods and packages the necessary precautions for their handling and lifting.

In case the Freight Forwarder is entrusted to carry out and take care of customs operations, the Principal and/or the Shipper warrant that the documentation accompanying the goods is authentic, complete and free from irregularities and that the goods strictly correspond to the type described, comply with the regulations in force, are of free export/import and are in conformity with the marking.

The Principal and/or the Consignor shall also be obliged to provide in good time all information, data, customs codes, customs entry and customs classification of the goods and all documents necessary for the performance of customs operations.

In addition, the Principal and/or the Shipper shall authorise the forwarder to handle all data concerning the shipment, including any data that could be considered as sensitive data, in order to allow the forwarder to carry out all administrative and/or operational procedures that need to be carried out electronically in order to provide the shipment with the best possible assistance.

7. Freight Forwarder’s Quotations
Quotations of the Freight Forwarder and agreements on prices and conditions shall refer only and always to specified services and shall not include, unless otherwise agreed, additional costs resulting from operations performed outside normal business hours. Unless otherwise agreed, they shall be binding only for goods of normal volume, size, weight and quality in relation to the intended mode of transport.

8. Advances and credits of the Freight Forwarder
If the Freight Forwarder advances freight, carriage charges, container rent, duties and expenses and other sums, for any reason whatsoever, the Principal and/or the Shipper shall be obliged to pay the amount due for such advance payment, interests for possible delays and possible losses due to changes in the exchange rate between currencies.

The Principal and/or the Shipper shall fully indemnify the Freight Forwarder against claims for freight, duties, taxes, damage contributions, fines or other sums of money for any reason claimed from the Freight Forwarder. In case the sums and fees due to the Freight Forwarder are charged to the consignee or to third parties, the Principal and/or the Shipper shall be bound to pay them immediately if for any reason the Freight Forwarder does not receive timely and spontaneous payment of the amounts due to him.

Unless otherwise agreed, no amount due to the Freight Forwarder shall be offset against other amounts claimed by the Principal and/or the Shipper for any reason whatsoever. The forwarding services commissioned shall be based on the rates agreed upon between the parties, also by email, and shall be paid within the terms specified therein. Unless otherwise expressly agreed, the monthly accrual of shipments for billing purposes shall be defined by the date of departure (airport/port), indicating for quotations in currency the exchange rate in force at the departure of the air/sea flight. Failure to comply with the terms of payment shall result in the automatic revocation of the same, with the concomitant right to exercise the right of retention as governed by Article 9 below.

9. Right of Retention
The Freight Forwarder shall have against the Principal, the Shipper and any other party with whom he enters into a contract, a lien and a right of retention on the goods and other assets in his possession in connection with credits due or falling due, and he may claim such right also against the consignee and/or owner of the goods.

10. Operational exceptions: delay or refusal to load or receive goods
The Shipper and/or the Principal shall reimburse and hold harmless the Freight Forwarder for any amount or cost due, including those for stopovers of means of transport, including containers, swap bodies and the like, for the return of the goods to the warehouse, for storage and subsequent redelivery.

In case of refusal or unavailability of the consignee the Freight Forwarder, if promptly informed about the storage and entitled to intervene, shall take the necessary or appropriate measures for the custody of the goods and their return, acting in the name and on behalf of the Principal and/or of the Shipper, on whom the risk of any loss, damage or theft shall be borne.

11. Liability

• 11.1 The Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for the performance of the performance of the carriage but only for the performance of the mandate received as well as for any ancillary obligations.
• 11.2 The liability of the Freight Forwarder acting as carrier, when foreseen and attributable to him, in relation to any damage and claim for compensation arising out of the forwarding and/or carriage operations entrusted, including possible technical stops, shall not exceed the compensation limit invoked by the Freight Forwarder and/or the carrier according to and by effect of the uniform law applicable to each single shipment or of the national law applicable to the single carriage and/or shipping, including the Italian law, and in any case the compensation limit applicable and invocable by the carrier actually performing the carriage.
  Technical stopover means the stopover of the goods in a storage area, or in a warehouse or terminal or in another storage area, for needs connected with the performance or continuation of the carriage, or in any case connected with the need to store the goods during the carriage or pending delivery to the carrier or consignee.

12. Damage occurring on an unknown route
In the event that it is impossible to identify the part of the carriage where the damage or loss occurred, as well as in the event that the damage or loss occurs during a storage and/or warehousing period not definable as a technical stopover (including therefore free or courtesy storage) carried out by the Freight Forwarder using his own facilities or his auxiliaries or if the warehouseman or the auxiliary during the storage and/or handling phase cannot invoke compensation limits, the maximum limit of 8,33 special drawing rights per kilo of goods lost or damaged shall apply.

13. Indirect damages

Any compensation due by the Freight Forwarder for indirect damage (such as, but not limited to: loss of profit, loss of interest or damage deriving from delays in the performance of the carriage) shall in any case be excluded, also notwithstanding articles 1223 and following of the Civil Code.

In particular, for shipments of samples and of goods or merchandise expressly indicated by the Principal or the Shipper as being intended for fairs, exhibitions, events and the like, compensation (if due) shall be limited to the agreed freight amount.

14. Complaints, disputes and place of jurisdiction
Any claim for loss, wrongful delivery, damage or injury shall be made in writing and sent to the Freight Forwarder peremptorily within the time limits applicable by virtue of the uniform or statutory provisions referred to in Article 11. Any dispute arising between the parties, directly and/or indirectly connected with the interpretation and execution of the forwarding mandate conferred or in any case with the agreement between the parties, shall be governed by the Italian law and submitted exclusively to the jurisdiction of the Court of Genoa.

15. Insurance
If the Principal intends to insure the risk of damage or loss to the goods, he may instruct the Freight Forwarder to take out insurance coverage on behalf of the Principal. The costs of such coverage shall in that case be specified in the quotation of the Freight Forwarder. In the absence of express instructions by the Principal any cover, if required, shall be taken out only for ordinary risks, in the usual forms of insurance on behalf of the party concerned or on behalf of others or by subscription. Under no circumstances may the Freight Forwarder be considered as insurer or co-insurer.

Alternatively the Principal may directly insure the shipment and/or the carriage, it being understood that in this case the relevant policy shall contain an express waiver of the right of recourse against the Freight Forwarder by the insurer.

The Freight Forwarder shall not be obliged to act in order to obtain the insurance indemnity, to interrupt the statute of limitations, to take care of the appraisal activity, unless the Principal has entrusted the Freight Forwarder with this task for a fee to be agreed ad hoc.

16. Force majeure
The Freight Forwarder shall under no circumstance be liable for losses, damages, delays, wrong or non-deliveries caused by unforeseeable circumstances, by causes of force majeure provided for in the uniform provisions or in the laws referred to in article 11 and in any case by circumstances beyond its control. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

a) Natural disasters;
b) Force majeure such as wars, accidents/damage to means of transport or embargoes, riots or civil commotion;
c) Defects, inherent characteristics or flaws in the goods;
d) Acts, defaults or omissions of the Sender, the Consignee or any other person with an interest in the shipment, the State, Customs or Postal Administration or other competent Authority;
e) Strikes, lockouts or labour disputes.