-
Case 1
One
Chinese
company
exported
a
contract
of
Grade
B
Peanuts
to
a
foreign
country
importer.
When the seller
was working on the delivery of the goods, he found
that the Grade B Peanuts were
out of
stock. Without prior consent of the buyer, the
seller delivered the Grade A Peanuts instead
of Grade B Peanuts and stated on the
invoice
“
Grade A Peanuts,
price is the same
”
, while
the
buyer refused the consignment.
Question:
In this situation, does the buyer hold
the repudiation rights? Why?
Answer
:
The buyer has the right to refuse to
pay. This is because both sides confirmed the
Grade B Peanuts
when signing the
contract, which holds a legal effect. If the
seller gets the buyer
’
s
consent, he can
change the peanuts
grade. So the buyer has the power to refuse to
pay.
Case 2
One
Chinese
company
exported
a
contract
of
agricultural
products
to
a
German
company.
The
contract
stipulates
that
moisture
not
exceeds
15%,
impurity
not
more
than
3%.
Before
the
deal
closing,
the seller sent the buyer the samples and after
the contracting the seller immediately faxed
the buyer that the consignment was
similar to the sample. After the shipment arrived
at Germany
the buyer had the goods
inspected. Later, the buyer showed the inspection
certificate, saying that
the
quality
of
the
goods
was
inferior
to
the
samples
’
,
and
then
he
put
forward
a
claim
for
compensation of
£
6 000, finally the Chinese
company paid the compensation.
Question:
Please analyze the
case.
Answer
:
The transaction belongs to the sample
trading. In international trade, in order to avoid
the situation
that the
seller
’
s delivery quality is
inconsistent with the requirement of the buyer,
which leads to
the
buyer
’
s
claim,
the
seller
may
ask
the
buyer
for
a
sample
in
advance
and
the
seller
shall
provide a tailored
sample according to the sample from the buyer for
confirmation; this is called
“
confirming
sample
”
. When the sample is
confirmed by the buyer, all the quality of the
goods
must
be
the
same
as
the
sample
’
s.
In
the
contract,
it
’
s
beneficial
for
the
seller
to
issue
the
quarantine inspection and quarantine
certificates.
Case 3
A
China
’
s export company made
a transaction of apples with a foreign company.
It
’
s stipulated
“
second-class
apple
”
in the
quality terms on the contract of sales and letter
of credit. However,
they found the
second-class apple had been all sold out when they
began to arrange the shipment.
As a
result, the company switched to the delivery of
“
first-class
apples
”
, and the invoice
stated
that:
“
the
price
of
the
first-class
apples
is
the
same
as
that
of
the
second-
class
”
.
Finally,
the
importer refused to
accept and to pay due to the inconsistency with
the quality contract terms.
Question:
What do you think
of this case?
Answer
:
Under normal circumstances, the
practice of substituting the superior goods for
the inferior ones
will be quite
acceptable. However, if the market price of the
goods is nose-diving or some other
abnormal things happen, the importer
sometimes will avail of the opportunity to refuse
the goods
or
claim
with
the
excuse
of
quality
inconsistency
with
the
contract.
Therefore,
the
quality
provisions of the
contract formation and performance are a loaded
matter of great significance.
Case 4
An export
company in China entered into a transaction with a
Russian company, stating: soybean
net
weight of 100 kilograms per bag, 1 000 bags , a
total of 100 metric tons. However, after the
goods arrived in Russia, the customs
discovered the soybean net weight of 94 kilograms
per bag,
1 000 bags, a total of 94
tons. At that time, the market price was falling.
So by the reason of the
discrepancies
between
the
document
and
the
cargo,
the
Russian
company
asked
for
5%
price
reduction, otherwise
he would reject the goods.
Question:
Are
Russian
side
’
s
requests
reasonable?
What
measures
should
the
Chinese
exporter
take
for
remedy?
Answer
:
Russian side
’
s
request is reasonable. (1) When there is no more
or less clause, delivery should be
strictly in accordance with the
contract. (2) Under the letter of credit, a 5%
expansion for quantity
of goods is
allowed while the amount of value
can
’
t exceed the amount
stipulated in the L/C.
However, the
proportion of our stretching is more than 5%.
Therefore, the Chinese exporter has
breached the contract.
As for the
buyer
’
s requests for price
reductions, the seller may consult with clients to
conclude the
transaction with
international market prices so as to reduce
losses.
Case 5
A
foreign
trade
company
exported
1 000
sets
of
typewriters.
The
L/C
stipulated
that
partial
shipment was prohibited. But
nonetheless, when the consignments were gathering
at the port for
shipment, the seller
found that 45 sets of goods got problem in packing
and quality. Since it was
an
emergency
and
in
order
to
assure
of
the
quality,
the
exporter
believed
that
according
to
the
Uniform
Customs
and
Practice
for
Documentary
credits,
even
if
it
doesn
’
t
allow
the
partial
shipment,
there
is
a
more-or-less
clause
by
5%.
Eventually,
the
seller
loaded
955
sets
virtually
whereas the goods were rejected by the
negotiating bank.
Question:
Please explain the reasons.
Answer
:
According
to
UCP600,
unless
the
quantity
of
credit
is
specified
in
L/C,
even
if
the
partial
shipments are not
allowed, the quantity of goods allowed 5% more or
less in quantity in condition
that the
total amount paid does not exceed the amount of
credit conditions. However, this clause
can not apply to situation when the
quantity is provided by counting the number of
packing units.
In
this
case,
typewriter
is
counted
by
set,
belonging
to
the
exceptions
of
the
above
clause.
5%
more
or
less
in
quantity
is
not
allowed.
Therefore,
the
bank
refused
to
negotiate
the
document
because of
discrepancies found by reviewing the L/C and other
documents.
Case
6
An
ore
exporting
contract
specified
the
terms
as
follows:
“
25 000
M
/
T
3%
more
or
less
at