General shipping conditions
SARL SMTE registered with the RCS of LYON under number 792 743 734, head office at 12 Rue Jacquard 69680 Chassieu, secondary site at 122 Avenue Maréchal de Saxe 69003 Lyon.
(Valid from 16/03/2023)
Article 1. Scope of application.
1(1) These General Shipping Conditions (GSC) apply to all shipping contracts concluded between, on the one hand, a customer (natural person or legal entity, acting for private or professional purposes) (hereinafter « the customer ») and, on the other hand, SARL SMTE located at 12 Rue Jacquard 69680 Chassieu or 122 Avenue Maréchal de Saxe 69003 Lyon in its capacity as freight forwarder.
For the purposes of these terms and conditions, a shipment contract shall be deemed to be any contract for the shipment of goods and merchandise with SARL SMTE, the latter acting in its capacity as a freight forwarder and not responsible for the execution of the shipment and its participants.
The shipping contract may be accompanied by the provision of one or more additional services defined in article 4 of the GTC.
The present General Terms and Conditions do not apply to services other than shipping, nor to the purchase of goods from SARL SMTE, not linked to a shipping contract, which are governed by SARL SMTE’s General Terms and Conditions of Sale.
1(2) The dispatch contract also includes the duly completed dispatch note, SARL SMTE’s price lists, the relevant forms, quotations accepted by the customer (e-mail) and invoices, as well as the General Conditions of Transport of SARL SMTE’s partner transport company chosen to carry out the transport.
1(3) No deviation from these GTC or from the forwarding contract will be accepted unless expressly accepted in writing by SARL SMTE.
Any deviation from the General Conditions of Transport of SARL SMTE’s partner transport company must have been previously accepted in writing by the latter.
1(4) The GTC take precedence over any document derogating from them issued by the customer.
Article 2. Execution of the shipping contract.
2(1) The transport of goods and merchandise from the customer to the consignee is carried out by SARL SMTE’s partner transport company chosen to carry out the transport.
Consequently, any shipping contract implies the customer’s adherence to the General Conditions of Transport of SARL SMTE’s partner transport company, which the customer declares to be familiar with (conditions of transport partners available on written request).
2(2) SARL SMTE is not liable to the customer for the performance of the transport and is not liable for the actions of SARL SMTE’s partner transport company and/or its substitutes.
2(3) Customer’s obligations.
2(3)(1) Packaging – Labeling.
In the event that the customer does not subscribe to the additional packaging service referred to in article 4.1. of the present GTC, he will be required to condition, package and affix marks or countermarks in such a way that the goods can withstand transport and/or storage under normal conditions, as well as the successive handling involved in transport.
The packaging and wrapping must not constitute a cause of danger for driving or handling personnel, the environment, the safety of transport equipment, other goods transported or stored, vehicles or third parties.
The customer is also required to affix clear labelling to each package, object or load carrier, enabling immediate and unequivocal identification of the sender, recipient, place of delivery and nature of the goods.
The customer is liable for all consequences of missing, insufficient or defective packaging, wrapping, marking or labelling, as well as for failure to inform and declare the nature and particulars of the goods.
The customer expressly undertakes not to hand over to SARL SMTE any goods or merchandise which do not comply with the conditions of acceptance laid down by the General Conditions of Transport of SARL SMTE’s chosen partner transport company.
In the event that the customer hands over to SARL SMTE goods and/or merchandise which contravene the Conditions imposed by SARL SMTE’s partner transport company, he alone will bear the consequences without recourse against SARL SMTE.
For the transport of works of art, if the customer has his own insurance, this must include a waiver by the insurer of any recourse against SARL SMTE and/or the partner transport company.
SARL SMTE takes no special measures to protect perishable goods from the effects of heat or cold.
Perishable goods are shipped at the customer’s sole risk under the same conditions as other goods, with SARL SMTE reserving the right to destroy altered goods at the customer’s expense and risk.
Article 3. Customs clearance.
SARL SMTE is authorized to carry out customs clearance operations on behalf of the customer or to entrust them to a third party such as SARL SMTE’s partner transport company.
Compliance with customs regulations is the sole responsibility of the customer.
On request, the customer will reimburse SARL SMTE for the costs, taxes and fees resulting from customs clearance or will pay, on first request, a deposit of an amount sufficient to cover SARL SMTE for any sums it may be required to advance in order to carry out its operations.
Article 4. Additional services.
4(1) Packaging service.
The customer may obtain the packaging service offered by SARL SMTE, in return for payment of the price indicated on the dispatch note or mentioned in the quotation.
In the case of goods requiring special packaging precautions for their transport, the customer must inform SARL SMTE in writing. SARL SMTE cannot be held responsible if the specifics relating to the goods have not been mentioned on the dispatch note.
4(2) Insurance.
The customer may take out insurance directly with SARL SMTE. The General Conditions of Insurance are available on written request.
In the event of loss, theft or damage during packing and transport and without insurance, the legal & contractual limit of liability will be a maximum of 23.00 euros per kg transported, without exceeding 750.00 euros per shipment.
Article 5. Delivery times.
The customer chooses the delivery time according to the following options:
– Standard: delivery within 2 to 7 days from the day of collection.
– Express: delivery within 1 to 5 days from the day of collection.
The times indicated are in working days and are given as an indication and do not constitute a guarantee of delivery. SARL SMTE accepts no responsibility for delays in delivery by the partner transport company chosen by SARL SMTE to carry out the transport.
Delivery times do not include collection or packaging. Delivery times may be affected by bad weather, strikes, sanitary conditions beyond the control of the carrier and SARL SMTE.
Article 5 Bis. Complaints
All complaints must be made in writing to SARL SMTE within the time limit imposed by the chosen partner carrier. SARL SMTE cannot subrogate to the general conditions of the chosen partner carrier and its responsibility cannot be engaged in the event of the customer exceeding the time limit.
By way of example, the time limit for complaints to the UPS carrier is 15 days from the scheduled delivery date, 45 days from the date the parcel is picked up for the GLS carrier, 14 calendar days from the delivery date for the TNT carrier, 48H from delivery for transport on pallets.
In the event of a claim for damage to the goods, the customer undertakes to retain all the components of the packaging: cartons (all cartons if necessary), polystyrene chips, foam film, bubble film, polystyrene sheets, dunnage, etc., in the event of inspection by the chosen partner carrier. The customer must also send SARL SMTE photos of the goods, as well as of the packaging and outer carton. If, due to the lack of conservation of the packaging elements during the inspection, SARL SMTE’s partner carrier decides that the packaging is insufficient, SARL SMTE will not be able to respond favourably to your complaint and SARL SMTE will not be held responsible.
Article 6. Liability.
SARL SMTE is not liable for any loss, damage or delay attributable to the chosen partner transport company.
Should SARL SMTE be held liable for any reason whatsoever, its liability is strictly limited to the amount of the declared value of the shipment or, in the absence of a declaration of value, to the sum of €5.00/kg including VAT, up to a maximum of €55.00 including VAT. Under no circumstances shall SARL SMTE’s liability exceed these amounts.
Article 7. Terms of payment.
All orders for shipping services and additional shipping services are payable by the customer to SARL SMTE on the day the contract is signed, by the means of payment indicated on the dispatch note.
If payment terms are granted, they may not, under any circumstances, exceed 30 days from the date of issue of the invoice for all services performed by SARL SMTE.
If payment is not received by the due date, the customer will be automatically liable for a late payment penalty equal to the interest rate set at three times the legal interest rate, and a fixed indemnity for collection costs of €40.00.
Where the collection costs incurred exceed the amount of this fixed indemnity, SARL SMTE may request additional compensation upon justification.
Article 8. Conventional pledge right.
SARL SMTE has a conventional right of lien with a general and permanent preferential right of retention on all goods and merchandise entrusted to it, to guarantee payment of all sums owed to it by the customer.
Article 9. Limitation period.
All liability claims arising from the performance of services carried out by SARL SMTE are subject to a limitation period of one year from the date of performance of the disputed service, and in respect of duties and taxes recovered a posteriori from the date of notification of the adjustment.
Article 10. Personal data.
Your personal data will be processed in compliance with the applicable regulations on the protection of personal data (arising in particular from European Regulation 2016/679 on the Protection of Personal Data which came into force on May 25, 2018).
Information relating to the processing of your personal data is detailed in the document entitled »Privacy statement and request for consent for the processing of personal data » – attached to these GCE and to be completed and signed by you.
Article 11. Jurisdiction clause.
In the event of litigation or dispute, the Tribunal de Commerce de Préfecture de Lyon (69 – France) shall have sole jurisdiction, even in the event of multiple defendants or the introduction of third parties.
Article 12. Final provisions.
All legal relations between the customer and SARL SMTE are governed by French law.
Should any provision of the present GTC be considered null and void or inapplicable for any reason whatsoever, the other provisions of the GTC shall remain valid.