In order to ensure the smooth progress of import and export contracts, the following methods can be adopted when formulating quality clauses for certain finished products that are prone to errors in quality indicators.
1. Agreed quality flexibility
The quality flexibility clause is to avoid the seller having difficulty in delivering goods due to overly stringent quality clauses. It is clearly stated in the contract that specific quality indicators can be flexible within a certain range. The specific methods are as follows:
(1) Specifying a range. The quality of the goods delivered by the seller is allowed to fluctuate within a certain range, such as “bleached cloth, width 35~36 inches”.
(2) Specifying a limit. Specifying upper and lower limits on the quality of the goods, such as “the oil yield of imported sesame is not less than 30%”.
(3) Specifying upper and lower differences. When specifying a specific quality indicator, specify the necessary upper and lower variation range, such as “Silver ingots of minimum 99.95% purity allowing 3% more or less”. In this case, as long as the seller’s delivery is within the agreed difference range and does not exceed the agreed limit, it is considered qualified and the buyer has no right to reject the goods.
2. Agreed quality tolerance
In the production process of industrial products, it is sometimes difficult to avoid certain errors in the quality indicators of products, such as watches that can allow a certain amount of timekeeping errors. This difference in product quality recognized by international peers is called “quality tolerance”, and the quality of the delivery can be considered to be in compliance with the contract within this range. Generally speaking, if the quality tolerance is recognized by international peers, it is not necessary to specify it in the contract. However, if there is no recognized quality tolerance for a specific indicator by international peers, or the two parties have different understandings of the quality tolerance, the content of the quality tolerance should be specifically agreed upon in the contract, such as “reasonable tolerance of ±(3%~5%) is allowed for size or weight”.
3. Agreed delivery quality is generally the same or similar to the sample
When a transaction is concluded using samples, disputes often arise due to the disagreement between the buyer and the seller on the delivered goods. In order to avoid disputes and facilitate the performance of the contract, the buyer and the seller may add a clause “the quality of the delivery is generally the same or similar to the sample” when establishing the quality clause.
The seller’s delivery quality is within the range of flexibility or quality tolerance, and is generally priced according to the contract unit price, but the contract may also stipulate clauses to increase or decrease the price according to the quality.