Inspections of the fruit upon arrival and its importance in agricultural exports
Importers often issue a quality inspection report upon receipt of the fruit and, if the market is booming, assure the buyer that the product will sell well and that they will obtain good prices, notwithstanding the result of the report. With this, the buyer often convinces the exporter to send more and more fruit, benefiting with higher volumes to sell in a market that presents good price expectations.
But, what risks does the exporter face if, despite the good prices insured by the importer, the quality inspection reports made on arrival confirm a poor quality of the fruit ?.
As mentioned previously, when the market is booming, importers tend to accept large volumes of fruit, often regardless of the quality of it, with the conviction that it will be sold at good prices anyway. However, when volumes increase and the market collapses, or when market problems simply arise and the buyer is unable to sell the fruit at the prices agreed with the exporter, the buyer makes price adjustments based on the poor quality of the product. the fruit and pay the exporter lower prices than agreed.
In these cases, despite the existence of quality inspection reports that demonstrate a poor quality of the fruit upon arrival, international trade regulations protect the exporter considering that if a buyer accepts the fruit knowing that it is accepting a product defective, and does not make a specific claim, must pay the prices initially agreed.
In specific, art. 39 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, known as Vienna 1980, states that: "The buyer must examine or have the goods examined in the shortest possible time, in the circumstances" Next, art. 39 of the same convention states that: "The buyer will lose the right to invoke the lack of conformity of the merchandise if it does not communicate it to the seller, specifying the nature, within a reasonable term from the moment in which there is or should have discovered it".
On the one hand, it is necessary to remember that in the field of fresh fruit, where it deteriorates rapidly, a reasonable period to carry out a quality inspection should not exceed three, maximum five days from the arrival of the container to the port of destination or, in its defect, from the opening of this one.
On the other hand, it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that the article 39 of Vienna 1980 requires the buyer to make specific and substantiated claims in case of not being satisfied with the merchandise received, not being sufficient the mere fact of forwarding a report of quality inspection that accounts for this or that result.
As a result of all the above, if after receiving the quality inspection report made upon the arrival of the merchandise, the buyer does not make a specific claim and specifies the nature thereof, as well as the reduction or adjustment of the proposed price as a result of the quality problems that are presented in the inspection report, it is considered that the buyer is accepting the product knowing its defective condition and therefore, loses the right to make further price adjustments.
Source: Portal Frutícola / Inés de Ros Casacuberta. Lawyer Araya & Cía., Specialist in International Trade.
Previous article
Blueberries continue to impress scientists with their benefitsnext article
Meet this wireless irrigation control toolARTÍCULOS RELACIONADOS
