Conditions of services

a) Become a customer
As soon as you exchange with Mekong team either by fax, telephone or email and has got shipment handled by us, you have already become our customer and entered into the agreement with standard trading terms and conditions which are specified briefly hereafter.

b) Service Area & Coverage
Mekong Cargo Freight ( Công ty Trách nhiệm hữu hạn Thương Mại Dịch vụ giao nhận vận tải Cửu Long ) is registered in Vietnam as An International Freight Forwarder which specialize in Int’l Freight Transportation, Domestic forwarding & Delivery, Customs Brokerage, Packaging, Trucking and Supply Chain & Warehouse Management and Service.
We cover the operations within the port / airport cities of Hochiminh, Hanoi, Haiphong, Danang and other provinces.

The Trading Terms & Conditions of shipments 
_ by Air are covered in the back side of Mekong ( or Agent ) Airway Bill
_ by Ocean are covered in Mekong or FIATA Bill of Lading or FMC Agent B/L
_ brokerage shipments as per current practice and regulated by Vietnam Customs Law
_ By road Applicable Law of land transport  for Passengers and Cargoes.

c) Appointment
By entering this agreement, you agree to appoint Mekong as your service provider, or agent to handle your cargoes at quality standard to cope with International trading habit and professionalism.

d) Standard Operations Procedures are applied for all international shipments, regardless of by Air or by Sea, under Incoterms FOB, CNF, CIF, ex-work, Door-To-Door, DDP , DDU or other  …. as clearly stated 
You will be informed by our team with time of cargo delivery, document readiness at our warehouse or appropriate terminals to catch any earliest vessel / or airplane as per demonstrated in booking confirmation. You are responsible to pay for any relevant fees or charges which have been previously announced by the booking team as per respective Incoterm.
For Air, Goods that are classified Hazardous materials & DG must be declared and handled properly by our team. As well as for Ocean, Hazardous materials & DG under IMO classify group will be advised by our team case by case.
In some cases, we can reject to ship the cargoes due to transport safety.
By International Transportation Convention shipment by Air is applied 1: 6000 ratio ; which mean 1 Cubic meter ( CBM) equivalent to 166.66 kg
By Sea with less than container load (LCL) Min 1 CBM = 1 Metric ton (MT);  
Full container load (FCL) mean equipment of  20 foot container or , 40 foot container or, 40 high cube container. Container specifications are clearly defined and marked with maximum payload by convention. Please check with our team if you are not clear.
By Truck 1MT = 330 kg

e) Definitions of 
Airfreight & Ocean freight : means transport from airport to airport or port to port. This exclude any service provided ,if any, from origin or at destination.
Origin & destination charges are charges occurred resulting from either Incoterms instruction of the shipments or services tendered by freight forwarder at origin or destination upon request.
Duties & Taxes are applicable for any import trading shipment and shipments imported for  other purpose as well. Besides annual tariff published by Ministry of Finance and the Department of Custom, 10% VAT is currently applied. Other goods are additionally imposed special consumption tax. 
Insurance is optional as per Incoterms and the deal between exporter/importer. 

f) Communication
Any mean from telephone, fax, email has been communicated between you and our team would establish our channel of interaction and proof of evidence prior to cargo shipping. In some cases, Google or un-identified mail domain names are not accepted by us and you are required to specify your better known contact for easy reference and legal communication.

g) Accounting
This is centralized in Hochiminh city Head Office where Receivable / Payable Accounting are managed through professional software. Overseas wire transfer must have transparent supporting documents to prove the transaction and USD is currently used for that purpose until further notice. Domestic transaction is wired by local currency VND and any conversion ratio is informed or written together with the due amount for easy reference.
COD = cash on delivery applicable for import shipments against Delivery Order in most cases.
Unless a mutual credit agreement is signed between Mekong and customers/agents, freight charges and fees are prepaid prior to tendering the services.
Taxes and duties of good imported must be paid beforehand and Mekong is at no reason to advance those on behalf of the customers
You are kindly requested to contact us for any doubt.

h) Sub-contracting
To serve the best possible service that may have available and to cope with demanding transit time, Mekong has used a network of sub-contractors which have been passed through a severe selection process and that can provide a similar quality standard to our customers. 

i) Business hours
Office hours : Monday to Friday 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Sat and holidays : Skeleton staff on duty or Manager Cell phone availability for emergency contact.
Warehouse : Monday to Friday 07: 00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sat and Holidays : close
Overtime is available and subject to charges and arrangement in advance.

j) Indemnity and limitation of liability
Int’l shipment by Air as per ICAO rules and IATA – Montreal Convention 
Int’l shipment by Sea by Warsaw Convention, applicable rules of the Hague – Visby Rules

k) Security
Regardless of by Air or Sea, cargoes that are stored, declared and transported should comply with International Security Standard set out from the factory warehouse until the departure gateway for export. Containers as well as carton boxes are screened through X-Ray machines prior to stuffing onto aircrafts or vessels. Cargo declaration sheets are required to fill up to show real shipper/consignee name and address, commodity, origin and destination port airport, etc. to cope with any TSA requirements 

l) Arbitrage
In case of any dispute, both parties should endeavor to solve the problem at their most efforts to minimize the loss and damage to the cargoes. If not satisfied then the dispute can be brought up to the Court Competence of the country where the cargoes are originated and from where the damage happens.