MERCIAN LABELS LTD GENERAL CONDITIONS OF PURCHASE


General terms

1. These General Conditions of Purchase take precedence over terms and general conditions of sale otherwise used by Seller. The execution or commencement of work by the Seller or commencement of delivery pursuant to the Order constitutes acceptance of the Order on the terms contained in or referred to in the Order. The acceptance of the Order is limited to and conditional upon acceptance by the Seller of the terms contained in or referred to in the Order. The Seller must inform the Buyer immediately if it does not wish to accept an Order.
2. The Buyer is Mercian Labels Limited, a company registered in England number 951963. Our registered office is Mercian House, Watling Street, Cannock, Staffs, WS11 0BD. You can telephone us on 0870 060 6466 and fax us on 0870 060 6467 or email us at sales@selfadhesivelabels.com
3. "Order" and "Purchase Order" means an official purchase order issued by the Buyer. An order will only be binding on the Buyer if it contains a valid purchase order number. The onus is on the Seller to satisfy itself that it has obtained a valid purchase order number. If in doubt the Seller should contact the Buyer to confirm the status of the purchase order number.


Prices

4. Prices are fixed and non-revisable
5. Carriage and Packaging costs are included in the price and the Seller acknowledges that the Buyer will not accept charges for carriage or packaging unless detailed in the order.
6. To the extent that Value Added Tax is legally chargeable on the supply to the Buyer of any goods or services provided by the Seller under the Order, the Buyer shall pay such Tax as an addition to payments otherwise due to the Seller under the Order. The Order Price is deemed to exclude Value Added Tax.
7. If, during the life of this Agreement the Seller sells any goods/parts/materials or services substantially the same as that listed herein at prices, including applicable freight equalisation terms, lower than the prices then effective under this Agreement, said lower price(s) shall apply to all goods/parts/materials or services thereafter shipped under this Agreement during the period of sale at such lower price(s) to others, provided Seller can legally extend such lower price(s) to Buyer.
8. If at any during the period of this Agreement the Buyer can purchase goods/parts/materials or services of like quality at a price which will result in a delivered cost to Buyer that is lower than the delivered cost of the goods/parts/materials or services purchased hereunder, Buyer may notify Seller of such delivered cost and Seller shall have an opportunity of pricing goods/parts/materials or services hereunder on such a basis as to result in the same delivered cost to Buyer. If Seller fails to do so or cannot legally do so, Buyer may purchase from the supplier of the lower delivered cost goods/parts/materials or services, and any purchase so made shall be held to apply to this Agreement, and the obligation of Buyer and Seller shall be reduced accordingly.

Payment

9. Payment will be made within 60 days from the end of the month of invoice receipt or goods/service receipt date, which ever is later, in pounds sterling. The Buyer reserves the right to withhold any amounts which are the subject of a bona fide dispute or to deduct from any monies due to the Seller. No payment of any amount shall constitute any admission by the Buyer that the goods are satisfactory or proper performance of the Seller. Any exception to these payment arrangements must be agreed in writing by the Buyer.

Assignment

10. Seller will not, without the consent in writing of the Buyer, assign, pledge or transfer the Order or any part thereof, to any other person. Any such consent shall not relieve Seller of its obligation to comply with the Order.
11. The Seller may not sub-contract any part of the contract without the prior written consent of the Buyer. If the Seller does sub-contract any part of the contract without such prior written consent than the Buyer shall be entitled to cancel the contract at any time or deduct 25% of the total value of the contract from the original price at its absolute discretion.

Cancellation

12. Buyer reserves the right to cancel the Order or any part thereof without penalty if Seller fails to comply with those terms and conditions of the Order which are under the control of Seller, or fails to make within the time specified in the order, which time is of the essence. Failure of the Buyer to exercise its option under this clause in respect of any part of an order shall not be deemed to be a waiver with respect to any subsequent part of the order. Unless an extension of time has been agreed in writing by the Buyer then the failure of the Seller to effect delivery on the date specified on the order then the Seller shall be liable for all loss and additional costs (or both) incurred as a result. Without prejudice to and other specific provision, the Buyer shall have the right to cancel the contract in whole or in part a any time by giving written notice to thew supplier whereupon all work undertaken (or the cancelled part) shall be discontinued and the Buyer shall pay to the Seller such proportion of the order price as may be fair and reasonable having regard for the value of the work done, of the goods previously delivered and of services performed under the order and the ability of the Seller to resell the goods or services; and on such payment no further sum or sums shall be due by way of damages, loss of profit or otherwise from the Buyer to the Seller by reason of such cancellation.

Quality, Quantity and Description

13. It is a condition of the Order that the goods supplied to Buyer under the Order shall be of first class materials and workmanship and must met the particulars referred to in the Order as to quantity, quality standards and description. The Buyer may reject the goods if they fail to conform as to quantity, quality or description with the particulars stated in the Order, where the defect the apparent on a visual inspection, one month after delivery, or in any other case one month after the Buyer has discovered the defect in question.
14. Seller will guarantee the goods or services, object of the Order, against continuing or hidden defects.
15. During the guarantee period, Seller will repair or replace any Defect to parts of the Supply or rectify any design Defect of the Supply, without delay & at his own cost. This will include labour, material and freight. The contractual guarantee period will be one year. Guarantee will start at beginning of usage, however, not later than three months after delivery. Delivery shall be completed when the goods have been unloaded by the Seller at the point of delivery specified in the Order and the delivery has been accepted by a duly authorised agent, employee or representative of the Buyer. Risk in the goods purchased shall pass to the Buyer only after delivery has been completed. If a carrier is used in connection with the order then such carrier shall be deemed to be an agent of the Seller and not of the Buyer.
16. Buyer reserves the right to purchase spare parts, accessories and supplies for any ordered machines or machinery whenever or wherever he may desire to do so.
17. By acceptance of the Order the Seller grants the right to the Buyer to make periodical visits to the Seller's plants or to his subcontractor(s) to inspect material and to determine actual progress of manufacture. If as a result of any inspection or test the Buyer is of the opinion that the goods do not comply with the order, or are unlikely on completion of manufacture or processing so to comply he shall inform the Seller accordingly and the Seller shall take steps to ensure such compliance.

Changes

18. No modifications to these Terms, or the commercial or technical terms and conditions of the Order will be effective or implemented without a written and signed authorisation by a Director of the Buyer. Any modification authorised by the Buyer and accepted by the Seller has been placed on the implicit understanding that the change has no impact other than that specified in the authorisation.
19. These Terms embody the entire understanding of the parties and supersede any prior promises, representations, undertakings and understandings from the Buyer and no other action on the part of the Buyer shall be construed as an acceptance of any other conditions except with a written and signed authorisation by a Director of the Buyer.
20. Any typographical, clerical or other error or omission in any purchase order, or other document or information issued by the Buyer shall be subject to correction without any liability on the part of the Buyer.

Confidentiality and Advertising

21. The Seller undertakes not to disclose to third parties the existence of the Order or its content, except on a "need to know" basis (e.g. subcontractors). The Seller will not disclose any of Buyer's proprietary information or documents he has been given, related to the Order, except with the prior written agreement of Buyer. The Seller will not without the prior written consent of the Buyer advertise or publish in any way whatsoever the fact that the Seller has contracted to supply goods or services to the Buyer

Intellectual Property

22. By acceptance of the Order, Seller warrants and agrees that any article or articles furnished hereunder and the use thereof, do not infringe any third party's property rights; that he will defend any action that may arise in respect thereof, and that he will indemnify and save harmless the Buyer and any subsidiary or affiliated company thereof against any loss including damages, costs or expenses, including legal fees, which may be incurred by the assertion of any intellectual property rights by other parties.

Ownership/Risk of Loss

23. Materials for processing, blocks, dies, patterns, original drawings, moulds, etc. supplied or separately ordered by the Buyer are at the Seller's risk while in the Seller's possession. The Seller shall not use such items, nor shall he authorise or knowingly permit them to be used by anyone else, for or in connection with any purpose other than the supply of the goods to the Buyer, except with the prior written agreement of Buyer.

Ownership of Documents & Inventions

24. All ideas, discoveries and inventions made in the performance of work done under the Purchase Order, including all Intellectual Property in documents, designs, drawings, calculations, descriptions, specifications and other things which Seller prepares or causes to be prepared specifically for the execution of the Purchase Order, shall be the property of Buyer, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing and accepted by a Director on behalf of both Buyer and Seller, respectively and if necessary and at Buyer's request the Seller must execute all such documents and do such other things as may be required to transfer or confirm such ownership of Buyer .

Force Majeure

25. Neither party shall be considered in default of performance of their obligations when such default is caused for force majeure, provided such party uses its best efforts to remedy such force majeure. As force majeure will be considered: fire, flood storm, wars, riots, civil commotion, acts of governments, labour disputes in which negotiations with the affected labour force cannot be conducted by Seller or sub contractor provided such events occur after signature of the Order. Default or failure of sub contractor(s) is specifically excluded from force majeure, unless such default or failure is caused by force majeure, as defined above, AND no alternate source is available. It is Seller's obligation to warn the Buyer about any force majeure occurrence affecting a sub-contractor, contractually imposed by Buyer, and this in due time so that a suitable replacement can be selected. The party asserting force majeure will immediately notify the other (unless force majeure prevents such notification) and if the period of suspension lasts for longer than two weeks, either party may at any time thereafter cancel any chosen part of this Purchase Order with immediate effect.

Law

26. Should a clause of the Order be held invalid by court decision, then this shall have no effect on the validity of the remainder of the Order.
27. A failure on the part of either party in enforcing against the other party any term or condition of the Order, shall not be or deemed to be a waiver or in any way prejudice any right of that party under the Order.
28. Incoterms (current edition) will apply to the Order if the Seller is located outside of the United Kingdom.
29. The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 shall not apply in relation to the Contract.
30. The construction, validity, meaning and effect of any contract between Buyer and Seller of which the Order forms part shall be governed by the laws of England, and the Seller agrees to have any disputes resolved in the court geographically closest to Cannock, Staffordshire with appropriate jurisdiction.