国际贸易买卖双方应注意质量检验条款

 

 

　　Many of international trade conflict arise out of disputes with respect to quality clauses.As refers to the quality clauses,there is the right and also obligation for the buyer to examine the goods delivered to the destination,as might by provided by in the international trade contract as well as United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods(CISG).The article 38 of CISG clearly stipulates that“the buyer must examine the goods,or cause them to be examined,within as short a period as is practicable in the circumstances”.Although CISG does not give any criteria or set certain number of days for us to fix how much time that a buyer spends in examining and noticing the seller about the quality issues is to be deemed as within practicable period,we can judge from common sense that CISG almost requires the buyer to give such examination as soon as possible.If there is unreasonable delay in making such examination or the buyer fails to make such examination,in practice of litigation or arbitration,the judges or the arbitrators always require the buyer to provide them with justifiable reasons.

 

　　许多国际贸易纠纷是因为质量条款所引发。对于质量条款而言，买方既有权利，也有义务在货物抵达目的地之后尽快进行检验，关于质量的规定既可能记载在国际贸易合同中，也同样是联合国国际货物买卖合同公约的要求。该公约第38条明确规定，“买方应当在环境所许可的最短期间内检验货物，或者使其被检验”。虽然该公约并未明确指出多少天算是买方检验产品质量并通知卖方最短期间，或者为最短期间设立判断标准，我们可以从常识判断公约要求买方尽快进行检验，越快越好。如果存在对于检验的不合理延迟，或者买方未能进行检验，那么无论是从诉讼还是仲裁实例的角度，法官或者仲裁员都会要求买方为这种延迟或未能检验提供合理理由。

 

　　Fox example,Company A in China trades with Company B in America,with the goods of a batch of apparel.The payment was set to be made via telegraphic transfer and the shipment was by sea,the goods were to be transported by ship from Shanghai Port to New York Port.When the goods had been delivered to New York,many days passed and Company B did not make any payment,regardless at several notices from Company A to urge it to pay the bill.After constant faxes which questioned why neither did Company A to make any payment nor did it give any justifiable excuses,finally Company B responded that when it had resold the products supplied by Company A to its own buyers,the buyer made quality complaints and Company B was held accountable for the quality defects.If company B was required to pay damages to its own buyer,it would require Company A to bear such damages for it,because it was products provided by Company A that had been found having quality defects.

 

　　比如，中国的甲公司和美国的乙公司达成了协议，出口一批服装。双方约定付款方式为银行电汇，运输方式是从上海港海运到纽约港。当货物运输到纽约港后，过了很多天乙公司仍未付款，对于甲公司多次的催告都置之不理。甲方多次发出传真，质问为何乙公司既不付款也不提出延迟付款的合理理由。多次询问之后，乙公司终于回复说，当它转售货物后，自己的买方提出货物存在质量问题，而乙公司被要求对质量缺陷承担责任。如果乙公司要承担赔偿，则它将要求甲公司承担赔偿，因为是甲公司提供的货物被发现存在质量问题。

 

　　Both parties could not make any consensus about such an issue and then according to the dispute settlement clauses in their international trade contract,they chose to file an arbitration case before the arbitration commission they had jointly selected.The arbitrators requested that Company B from United States shall provide proof that it had made examinations during the practicable period as stipulated in CISG and there were really quality defects.Company B claimed that its buyer had examined it,and the quality defects included defects of clothing,the problems about the sizes,and the problems of weaving methods.However,Company B did not give further proof,including the examination reports.Therefore,the arbitrators held that Company B’s claims were not supported and Company B was ordered to pay all the prices plus arbitration fees.

 

　　双方对于此一问题未能达成一致，而根据双方国际贸易合同的争端解决条款，双方选择向选定的仲裁委员会提出仲裁。仲裁庭要求乙公司提出证明，其在合理期间内已经对货物进行了检验，并且产品质量问题确实存在。乙公司提出，其买方已经检验了货物，货物瑕疵包括布料的瑕疵，尺寸问题和编织方法存在问题。然而，乙公司却未能提出进一步证据，特别是未能提出检验报告。因此，仲裁员认为乙公司的要求不应支持，要求乙公司支付全部价款，承担仲裁费用。

 

　　Nanjing Contract Lawyer suggests that when the both parties negotiate about the clauses with respect to quality warranty or quality examination,they should at first clarify the criteria for the quality,including what standards of products they would adopt and what situations may constitute quality defects,and what institutions or experts they will designate as the examiner.They can also set up a fixed number of days for the buyer to examine the goods and respond,when such a period expires and the buyer fails to make any response,the buyer’s right to claim any quality defects will also be void.

 

　　南京合同律师许光律师（电话微信同号17712855901）认为，当双方就涉及到产品质量保证或者质量检验单的问题进行协商的时候，他们应当首先澄清质量标准的问题，包括他们将采用那些质量标准，哪些情况构成质量问题，以及哪些机构或者专家将被选定作为检验人员。他们也可以设定一个固定天数的期限，当该期限届满之后，如买方未提出相关回应，则买方提出质量问题的权利将会消灭。