What are logistic services? Cases of liability exemption for traders providing logistic services in Vietnam

What are logistic services?

Pursuant to Article 233 of the Commercial Law 2005, logistic services are commercial activities whereby traders organize the performance of one or many jobs including reception, transportation, warehousing, yard storage of cargoes, completion of customs procedures and other formalities and paperwork, provision of consultancy to customers, services of packaging, marking, delivery of goods, or other services related to goods according to agreements with customers in order to enjoy service charges.

Cases of liability exemption for traders providing logistic services in Vietnam (Internet image) 

Rights and obligations of traders providing logistic services in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 235 of the Commercial Law 2005, the rights and obligations of traders providing logistic services are stipulated as follows:

- Unless otherwise agreed, traders providing logistic services shall have the following rights and obligations:

+ To enjoy service charges and other reasonable expenses;

+ To depart from instructions of customers during the performance of contracts for plausible reasons and in the interests of customers, provided that customers must be notified thereof immediately;

+ To notify such customers immediately for further instructions in cases where instructions of customers cannot be followed in part or in whole;

+ To perform their obligations within a reasonable period of time if there is no agreement on specific time limit for performance of their obligations to customers.

- In the course of transportations of goods, traders providing logistic services must comply with the provisions of law and transportation practices.

Rights and obligations of customers in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 236 of the Commercial Law 2005, unless otherwise agreed, customers shall have the following rights and obligations:

- To guide, inspect and supervise the performance of contracts;

- To provide sufficient instructions to traders providing logistic services;

- To provide sufficient, detailed and accurate information on the goods to traders providing logistic services;

- To pack and mark the goods according to contracts for purchase and sale of goods, except where there is an agreement that traders providing logistic services shall undertake to do such job;

- To compensate for damage caused to, and pay reasonable costs incurred by, traders providing logistic services if such traders have strictly complied with customers’ instructions or if the customers are at fault;

- To pay traders providing logistic services all amounts due.

Cases of liability exemption for traders providing logistic services in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 237 of the Commercial Law 2005, apart from the cases of liability exemption specified in Article 294 of the Commercial Law 2005, traders providing logistic services shall not be liable for the goods loss caused in the following cases:

- The loss is caused by faults of customers or their authorized persons;

- The loss is caused by traders that have strictly followed the instructions of their customers or persons authorized by customers;

- The loss is attributed to defects of the goods;

- The loss occurs in cases of liability exemption according to law and transportation practices, if traders providing logistic services organize transportation;

- Trader providing logistic services are not notified of complaints within fourteen days from the date they deliver goods to recipients;

- After being complained against, traders providing logistic services are not notified of lawsuits against them being instituted at arbitrations or courts within nine months from the date of delivery of goods.

Traders providing logistic services shall not be liable for the loss of profits which their customers would have earned, for any services delayed or provided at wrong addresses, for which they are not at fault.

Mai Thanh Loi

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