Terms & Conditions
Last updated January 2012
General Terms and Conditions of Business
Germany Trade and Invest – Gesellschaft für Außenwirtschaft und Standortmarketing mbH
(Main Business Office)
Friedrichstrasse 60
10117 Berlin
- referred to as the „vendor” in the following text -
§ 1 Scope of Validity
(1) Contracts for goods and services tendered over the websites www.gtai.de and www.gtai.com will be exclusively concluded on the basis of the currently valid version of the following General Terms and Conditions of Business.
(2) Our General Terms and Conditions of Business have pre-emptive validity. GTCB’s of customers which diverge from our General Terms and Conditions of Business are not valid, unless we have granted our express consent.
§ 2 Concluding a Contract
(1) The goods and services we tender on the Internet represent a legally non-binding opportunity for the customer to conclude a contract with us. By means of an order submitted over our website, the customer can make a commitment to conclude a contract.
(2) We can accept the offer within five working days by sending an e-mail confirmation, by delivering the ordered goods and/or contents, or by sending a downloading link. If the deadline should expire, the offer will have been officially rejected. Should the customer order via Internet, however, the vendor will confirm access to the ordered goods by electronic means without delay.
§ 3 Payment, Default
(1) Those prices indicated on our website at the time of the order apply. All prices include the statutory German value-added tax plus the incidental and separately charged delivery costs.
(2) Except in the case of subscription contracts, payment is due when the contract has been concluded and payable within 14 days after receipt of goods, or the receipt of digital contents. The purchase price may be paid by bank transfer to the account of the vendor, or by credit card.
(3) Should the customer default in payment, we are authorized to charge default interest to the amount of 5 percentage points above the base interest rate set by the European Central Bank. For companies, default interest will be charged at 8 percentage points above the base interest rate set by the European Central Bank. In the event we demand a higher amount of compensation for default damages, the customer has the opportunity to prove that the default damages claimed are not justified, or at least to a substantially lesser degree.
§ 4 Subscriptions
(1) Periodicals can be ordered within the context of an annual subscription, which automatically extends for another year if it has not been cancelled in writing at least six weeks before the expiration of the contract. The deadline will have been observed if the cancellation is sent off in time. The date of the postmark is decisive. Billing is done one year in advance.
(2) Test subscriptions of particular monographic series for a special price will be delivered as follows:
• three issues of bi-monthly publications;
• three issues of monthly publications.
Billing begins with the initial delivery. The test subscriptions automatically convert to annual subscriptions if they have not been cancelled in writing within five days after receipt of the second sample delivery. The deadline will have been observed if the cancellation is sent off in time. The date of the postmark is decisive.
§ 5 Downloading/Delivery
(1) If contents are tendered in digital formats, they can be downloaded directly online, inspected, and stored by registered users.
(2) The delivery of printed materials occurs five working days after the receipt of the order, or five days after receipt of payment if the goods have been paid in advance. In respect to delivery times that diverge from the norm, we refer to the respective website presentation of the goods. The initiation of the delivery times we have indicated presumes the punctual and orderly fulfilment of duties on the part of the customer, most importantly correct information regarding the delivery address during the ordering process.
(3) Should the vendor not be in a position to deliver the ordered goods through no fault of its own, because the supplier of the vendor has not fulfilled its contractual obligations, the customer will be informed without delay that the ordered goods are not available. Services in return which have already been rendered by the contractual partner will be reimbursed without delay. Legal claims of the customer remain intact.
§ 6 Default of Acceptance
(1) Should the customer default in acceptance of performance, or should he/she violate other collaborative duties culpably, we would then be authorized to demand compensation for the ensuing damages including any additional expenditures. We reserve the right to all legal claims extending beyond these circumstances.
(2) During a period of default, interest will be charged on the purchase price. Default interest is calculated at 5 percentage points above the base interest rate annually. In connection with legal proceedings between companies, the interest rate amounts to 8 percentage points above the base interest rate.
(3) The customer is free to prove that the default damages claimed are not justified, or at least to a substantially lesser degree. After the customer has defaulted in acceptance of payment, the danger of an incidental extinction or accidental decline of the purchased goods becomes the legal responsibility of the ordering party.
§ 7 Warranty
(1) If a deficiency has been identified, the customer has the option of receiving subsequent performance either through a rectification or replacement of the goods. We are, however, authorized to refuse the chosen form of subsequent performance if it incurs disproportionate expenses and the other alternative for subsequent performance does not entail considerable disadvantages for the customer.
(2) Should the subsequent performance be unsuccessful or should we have refused subsequent performance entirely, the customer then has the option of demanding a reduction of the purchase price or declaring his/her withdrawal from the Contract. Eventual compensation claims of the customer remain unaffected by these circumstances.
§ 8 Costs for Returned Goods after Cancellation
You must pay the costs for a return of purchased goods, if the goods delivered correspond to the original order and the price of the goods to be returned does not exceed EUR 40.00, or in the event that the goods in question exceed this price at the time of cancellation and you have not yet provided the necessary counterperformance or the contractually designated partial payment. Otherwise, no costs will be charged to you for the returned goods.
§ 9 Liability Restrictions
(1) With the exception of violations affecting essential contractual duties, the vendor is only liable for damages in respect to business people if the vendor, its legal representatives, or its executive employees have been guilty of intent or gross negligence. In connection with other performing agents, the vendor is liable only in the event of intent and provided that essential contractual duties have been violated with intention or gross negligence. With the exception of intent and gross negligence, the liability of the vendor, its legal representatives, or its executive employees is restricted to those damages that are typically expected after a conclusion of contract.
(2) In respect to consumers and a moderately negligent violation of contractual duties, the liability of the vendor and performing agents of the vendor is restricted to the immediate and typical damages which can be expected for the type of goods and which are regulated by contract. In respect to a moderately negligent violation of non-essential contractual duties that has not endangered the execution of the Contract, neither the vendor nor performing agents of the vendor are liable.
(3) The preceding liability restrictions do not apply to claims arising from product liability or from warranties, or claims arising from damage to body or health, or loss of life.
§ 10 Data Protection
We treat your personal data with absolute confidentiality and in conformity with data protection laws. Your personal data will not be forwarded without your express consent, or only within the context of the formalities necessary for concluding the Contract, for example, in connection with companies entrusted with the delivery of goods.
§ 11 Jurisdiction, Legal Venue
(1) The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany are applicable here, with the exclusion of the UN Convention for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) if this does not entail a loss of mandatory norms of consumer protection.
(2) If the contractual parties are business people, the court responsible for our main business office in Berlin is the proper legal venue, provided that a specific legal venue has not been determined for legal proceedings. The same applies for customers who do not have a residence within the European Union.
§ 12 Final Provisions
Should a provision of this Contract be or become invalid or not executable, the remaining provisions of this Contract remain unaffected as a result.
