General Terms & Conditions of Sale

These General Terms and Conditions of Sale are customary in the sector; they apply to all contracts between Genoud Entreprise d’arts graphiques SA (hereinafter the “contractor”) and third parties (hereinafter the “customer” or “purchaser”) concerning the provision of services (tangible or intangible) unless the contractor has agreed otherwise in writing.

Should one or more provisions in these Terms and Conditions of Sale be rendered totally or partially invalid, the parties to this agreement will replace the provision or provisions with new provisions that comply with the legal nature of the agreement and the economic goals of the parties.

Under no circumstances shall the contractor be subject to the Terms and Conditions of Sale of the customer.

Legally binding agreements or declarations by the parties shall only be valid in written form.

Offers

Unless stated otherwise, quoted prices are calculated on the basis of complete data and documents suitable for processing, as well as on explicit, binding specifications concerning content, condition and dimensions.

Prices quoted on the basis of unclear or incomplete documents are for information purposes only.

Unless otherwise specified, quoted prices shall remain effective for 90 days.

In the interests of the contractor, all quotations or order confirmations are made in writing.

Print contract

The contractor agrees to carry out the order, the content, presentation, price and ancillary costs of which shall be agreed with the customer in advance. Unless otherwise agreed, the contractor is under no obligation to return the data, data carriers, tools or any other production tool.

Prices

 Unless agreed otherwise, quoted or confirmed prices are always net ex works, excluding VAT and transport costs.

Feasibility tests, mock-ups, originals and photographic works will be invoiced, even if no corresponding prepress or print order is issued.

If the pricing changes between the date of acceptance of the order and delivery of the goods due to unforeseeable reasons (particularly currency variations, sub- contractor prices, increases in raw material prices, or wage increases due to the application of collective labour agreements), the contractor has the right to change the prices unilaterally.

Ordering for a third party

Any individual or legal representative who accepts a print contract on behalf of another or with the aim of invoicing the contractor’s service to a third party shall be considered the debtor if no valid position of representation is specifically stated.

Payment terms

Payment must be made within 30 days of the invoice date (except where other conditions apply), without any deduction. The delivered goods remain the property of the contractor until payment in full has been received.

If payment has not been received by the due date, the customer is immediately considered in default of payment. In this case, the customer shall be liable for interest of 12% per year.

For any order requiring capital funds, either for raw materials or sub-contracting, or to carry out works that will take longer than two months, the contractor may request a prepayment or down payments.

For orders placed by an intermediary, in the name of and on behalf of the customer, the intermediary must take all measures necessary to ensure that the contractor does not incur any losses.

The customer shall not be entitled to any claims or to offset claims against any claims by the contractor unless such claims have been acknowledged by the contractor or if they arise from an effective and enforceable ruling.

Paper, cardboard and other supplies acquired at the request of the customer and which have not been used within three months will be invoiced by the contractor, along with any subsequent costs.

Delivery terms

Agreements concerning delivery dates must be made in writing and shall only be valid if the defined or agreed deadlines for receipt of the working documents (such as text or image templates, manuscripts, data carriers or press proofs) are met.

The working documents are sent physically or electronically at the purchaser’s risk. If the customer provides the working documents or press proofs late, the contractor shall not be bound to the initially defined delivery date.

If the work is carried out late for reasons beyond the control of the contractor (for example, disrupted operations due to force majeure, power cuts, machine

breakdowns, strikes), the customer shall not be authorised to cancel the contract and/or request damages or interest (warranty/limitation of liability).

Transfer of profits and risks, moment of delivery

The profits and risks are transferred to the customer as soon as the goods are ready for physical and/or electronic delivery, even if the delivery is exceptionally made at the contractor’s expense. The manufacturer’s obligations are considered fulfilled as soon as the goods leave the site, or are handed over, for example to the courier or transport carrier. Insurance for loss or damages of any kind whatsoever is at the customer’s expense.

Late receipt

If, once they have been informed that the work is complete, the customer does not take receipt of their goods within a suitable timeframe, the contractor shall be entitled to invoice for the services it has provided and agrees to store the work safely, at the risk and peril of and on behalf of the customer.

Copyright

It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that they have the reproduction rights for all documents, templates and other items given to the contractor for the reproduction and printing. The contractor cannot be held liable if this is not the case. This also applies to saved archive data and their subsequent use.

Creative services, such as project development as part of the quote (materials research, binding), provided by the contractor, are protected under copyright law and their reuse shall be subject to permission from the contractor.

Data ownership and copyright of the customer 

The customer’s electronic data rights and copyright shall be maintained.

Unless otherwise agreed, the contractor is under no obligation to save, archive or return the data made available to it.

Reproduction and production materials 

The reproduction materials used by the contractor (such as photographs, data carriers, films, electronic data, compositions, montages or printing plates) and the production materials (cut-out forms, embossing plates) are the property of the contractor.

Additional costs 

Any additional costs for which the customer, or a third party operating on their behalf, are liable because they exceed the scope of the quotation, for instance, due to the provision of incomplete, missing or inadequate documents for reproduction, or due to author corrections or later modifications, shall be invoiced without prior warning, at the market price.

Drafts and mock-ups

Feasibility tests, drafts, originals, and photographic work will be invoiced even if no corresponding prepress or print order is issued.

Copyright for such documents is set out in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Mock-ups produced on the basis of a quotation shall be invoiced and then reimbursed in the event that an order is issued.

Author corrections 

Author corrections (later changes to the text, illustrations or layout) are not included in quoted prices. These are invoiced separately based on the amount of time needed to implement them.

Control and verification documents

The customer must examine the control and verification documents submitted to them before the order is completed (proofs, copies, files and other items) and send them back with the press proof and any corrections by the given deadline.

If the decision is made not to examine the control and verification documents, the customer shall bear full responsibility.

The contractor cannot be held liable for any corrections or changes made by telephone.

Languages and dialects 

The contractor cannot be held liable for the characteristics of the language, grammar and syntax in the documents provided by the customer.

Standard tolerances in the sector/Under or over delivery

The contractor reserves the right to standard production and material tolerances in the sector, particularly as regards the precision of the cut, the accuracy of the reproduction, the colours and the quality of the print materials (such as the paper or cardboard). All tolerances imposed on the contractor by its suppliers also apply to the customers of that contractor.

A difference of up to 10%, 20% for special material, between the quantity ordered and the quantity delivered cannot be contested, unless agreed otherwise. Only the quantity actually delivered will be invoiced.

Delivery on call

Additional costs incurred for the use of storage premises, along with interest on the capital invested (work, materials) are the responsibility of the customer

Delivery, packaging

Packaging and shipping are not included in the price (unless stated otherwise under the item “delivery and packaging” in the quotation). These will be invoiced to the customer based on the associated costs.

Pallets, frames and crates shall be replaced or invoiced at the purchase price if they are not returned free of charge and in good condition within 4 weeks of receipt of the goods.

Notification of defects

All goods delivered by the contractor must be carefully checked on receipt. Checks must particularly be carried out if a press proof or a production proof was agreed.

Any claim must be made within 8 days of receipt of the goods, otherwise the delivery will be considered accepted and approved. Minor differences compared with the original templates are not sufficient grounds for a notification of defects. For justified claims made within the deadline, the contractor agrees to improve or replace the goods.

Warranty/Limitation of liability 

The contractor guarantees that the products delivered are of the defined and/or certified quality.

The contractor’s liability is limited to errors resulting from intentional fault. The contractor cannot be held liable for any subsequent, direct or indirect damage arising as a result of defects to the goods. In all cases, the contractor’s liability shall be limited to the value of the order, subject to the binding provisions of the law of 18/06/1993 regarding product liability.

The contractor shall not be liable for errors or shortcomings in the data delivered.

The contractor shall not be liable for errors or shortcomings in the files delivered, or for any data lost in the files delivered, which require subsequent processing.

The customer shall not hold the contractor liable with regard to third parties (for example, due to the content of files), and agrees to take all measures necessary to ensure that the contractor does not incur any losses (including legal and court fees).

Material provided by the customer 

Any material provided by the customer, with proof of necessary ownership for the order to be carried out, must be delivered carriage paid to the contractor.

The customer is solely liable for any direct or indirect damages, as well as any subsequent damage incurred as a result of unsuitable material (quality, quantity). This also applies to the storage of the material at the customer’s cost and risk.

Electronic data and return of data

The contractor cannot be held liable for any data provided by the customer or their representative which contains errors or missing items. Likewise, the contractor shall not be liable for any quality defects in the printed product that are a result of data provided that cannot be used according to standard methods.

Additionally, the contractor shall not be liable for lost data from files that have been sent to the contractor for processing. The contractor’s liability is limited to errors committed by the contractor, resulting from serious negligence.

Control and verification documents 

The customer must carefully check the control and verification documents (such as the proofs, copies or data). They must inform the contractor of any errors and return them with the press proofs within the agreed deadlines.

The contractor shall not be liable for any errors that are not reported by the customer. Corrections and changes requested by telephone must be confirmed in writing by the purchaser within 24 hours, otherwise the contractor shall not be liable.

Where it has been agreed not to present control and verification documents, or if the purchaser places an order directly, without control documents or data carriers, the customer shall bear the full risk. The contractor’s liability shall be limited to serious errors.

Storage and warehousing of documents and working files

Unless agreed otherwise, the contractor is under no obligation to retain the working documents (files, texts, images and tools).

The final prepress data, saved to guarantee the technical completion of the order, shall be deleted 30 days after the date of the invoice for the work.

All other storage must be agreed separately in writing and shall be invoiced, at the risk and peril of the customer, subject to accounting-related risks with new work techniques.

Prior to deleting any data needed to produce the final product, the contractor shall propose in writing to either return such data free of charge, or to store it against payment.

The files and documents (originals, photographs, paintings and others) provided to the contractor shall be processed with all the care necessary. Unless specifically agreed in writing, all other risks are the responsibility of the customer.

Terms of use of the contractor’s data bank 

This provision governs the customer’s electronic consultation of information held in the data bank created by the contractor for this purpose. With this data bank, the contractor aims to provide its customers with easier and more globally accessible services.

In order to access the data bank the customer must authorise their registration for the service. Log in details must not be shared with third parties.

Using the data provided by the contractor is prohibited if it contravenes the aforementioned purposes concerning data distribution. The customer shall also ensure that any third parties to whom they provide full or partial access to the database abide by these terms of use.

The contractor reserves the right to change, limit or block, at any time and without prior justification, access to the database or to certain specific data. The contractor also has the right to amend these terms of use at any time and without prior justification. The contractor shall give prior notice regarding any major changes to be made.

In the event of failure to comply with these terms of use, the contractor may immediately and indefinitely block access to the data bank. The contractor reserves the right, in such cases, to take additional legal action.

The data banks or certain isolated data are provided in the condition in which they were created at the contractor.

In all cases, the contractor’s liability shall be limited to cases of intentional fault or serious negligence. The contractor cannot be held liable, in particular, for the accuracy, exhaustiveness or scope of the data banks viewed or the different isolated data, and by extension for any damages caused by the later (for example, due to a computer virus).

Prevailing law, place of performance and jurisdiction

This contract, with all the pursuant rights and duties, is subject to Swiss law, excluding the Vienna Convention (CISG).

The place of performance and exclusive jurisdiction for both parties is the head office of the contractor.

Certifications

The company holds the following certifications: PSO (Process Standard Offset), PDFX-ready, FSC-COC, Impression climatiquement neutre, Imprim’vert. These are regularly renewed and updated.

Recognition 

By placing an order, the customer agrees to abide by these General Terms & Conditions of Sale.