A Dutch importer still has to pay for two Spanish shipments of tomatoes despite the dispute regarding their quality, as was ruled by the District Court The Hague last month.
On arrival in the Netherlands, during an examination of the tomatoes from the Spanish producer, the product turned out to be of bad quality. Because of this, the tomatoes couldn’t be sold through to the intended British client, but, for a considerably lower price, the product managed to be sold to an alternative client.
Examination
Reason enough for the Dutch importer to not pay for the two shipments in question from the winter of 2018-2019. This is to the Spanish producer's dissatisfaction who says that the tomatoes were still of good quality before shipping them from Spain through the transporter who the importer called in. An examination by the Dutch importer did not take place at the time.
Transport
The Court noted that this could lead to discussion and a ‘grey’ period during transport. The risk of loss of quality of which is borne to the importer according to the Court.
According to the court, the importer did not meet their obligations to examine the tomatoes as soon as possible as per European trade regulations. The general lesson to take away from all this is that, during transport by a third party, an examination during the loading process can prevent many discussions later on.
The invoice, worth almost ten thousand euros, will still need to be paid by the importer.
Source: De Rechtspraak