Terms of service

Scope

These terms apply to every quotation issued by Clatige VOF (“Clatige”), registered with the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce under KVK 42155254, and to every agreement concluded with a client on the basis of one.

Purchase conditions or other general conditions used by the client are expressly rejected, unless Clatige has accepted them in writing.

Where these terms conflict with a signed agreement, the signed agreement prevails on the point of conflict and these terms govern the rest.

What we do

Clatige provides trade and logistics coordination, e-commerce services, and ICT and AI services between the Netherlands and Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The scope of an engagement is what the confirmed quotation says it is. Nothing on this website forms part of that scope: the site describes what Clatige does in general, not what has been agreed with you.

Quotations and formation of an agreement

A quotation is not a binding offer. It is an indication made on the information available at the time, and Clatige may revise or withdraw it for as long as it has not been confirmed. An agreement comes into being only when Clatige confirms the engagement in writing — email counts as writing — or when Clatige begins performing it with the client’s knowledge.

A quotation is valid for thirty days from its date unless it states otherwise. Rates that depend on third-party costs — freight, inspection, duties, handling, currency — are quoted at the rates in force when the quotation is made. Where those costs change before performance, Clatige will say so, and the parties agree how the change is carried before the work continues.

Information you supply

The client is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of everything it supplies: product descriptions, specifications, quantities and weights, tariff classifications, values, certificates, licences and any other documentation.

Clatige acts on that information as given. It does not independently verify it, and cannot. Where information supplied by the client proves incorrect or incomplete, and that causes delay, detention, storage costs, a fine, a re-inspection, a seizure or a rejected consignment, those consequences are for the client’s account.

Where the client knows the goods fall inside a regulated category — food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, electrical goods, dual-use items — it must say so before booking. Discovering it afterwards is expensive.

Clatige does not give legal, customs or tax advice

Clatige is not a lawyer, not a customs representative acting in the client’s name, and not a tax adviser. Nothing it provides is legal, customs or tax advice. Clatige may prepare or coordinate documentation, and may point out that a requirement appears to apply, but the client remains responsible for the classification, the valuation and the declarations made in its name.

Where a formal opinion on classification, duty treatment, licensing or taxation is needed, the client obtains it from a qualified adviser or from the competent authority. Clatige will say when it thinks that point has been reached.

Performance and third parties

Clatige may engage third parties — carriers, forwarders, inspection bodies, customs representatives, agents in the destination market — and selects them with care. Where a third party’s own conditions govern its part of the work, carriage in particular, those conditions apply to that part.

Stated delivery times, transit times and dates are estimates, unless a fixed deadline has been agreed in writing.

Prices and payment

Prices are in euros and exclusive of VAT unless stated otherwise. Duties, taxes and third-party charges are for the client’s account unless the quotation includes them.

Invoices are payable within fourteen days of the invoice date. On late payment, the statutory commercial interest of Article 6:119a of the Dutch Civil Code and reasonable collection costs are due, without notice of default being required. Clatige may suspend performance for as long as an undisputed invoice is outstanding.

Liability

Clatige’s liability is limited to direct damage and, in total per engagement, to the amount invoiced for that engagement, or to the amount its insurer pays out in the matter where that is higher.

Clatige is not liable for indirect or consequential damage: lost profit, lost turnover, missed savings, business interruption, reputational damage, or damage arising from claims by the client’s own customers.

Nor is Clatige liable for damage arising from information supplied by the client, from acts of authorities in the Netherlands or in a destination market, or from the conduct of a third party engaged with the client’s approval.

These limitations do not apply to the extent that the damage results from intent or deliberate recklessness on the part of Clatige or its management.

A claim lapses twelve months after the client became aware, or could reasonably have become aware, of the damage.

Force majeure

Neither party is in default where performance is prevented by a circumstance outside its control. This includes at least: war, civil unrest, terrorism, strikes, epidemics, extreme weather, fire, flooding, closure of ports or borders, congestion or blockage of a shipping route, export or import restrictions and sanctions, acts or omissions of customs or inspection authorities, failure of transport or energy infrastructure, and prolonged failure of internet or telecommunications services.

For as long as force majeure lasts, obligations are suspended. Where the situation lasts longer than sixty days, either party may terminate the agreement in writing for the part not yet performed, without either owing the other compensation. Work already performed remains payable.

Applicable law and competent court

Dutch law applies to these terms and to every agreement to which they apply. The applicability of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods — the Vienna Sales Convention — is excluded.

Disputes are submitted to the competent court in the district where Clatige has its registered office, unless a mandatory rule of law designates another court.

Changes to these terms

Clatige may amend these terms. The version applicable to an engagement is the one in force when the quotation was confirmed. The date shown at the top of this page is the date this version was published.