Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions govern the services provided by Apex Cargo International ("Apex Cargo", "we", "us") and your use of https://apexcargoint.com. They apply to every quotation we issue, every consignment we handle and every visit to this website.

By asking us to quote for, collect, carry, store or deliver goods, or by using this website, you accept these Terms. If you are placing a booking for a business, you confirm you are authorised to accept these Terms on that business's behalf.

Apex Cargo acts as a freight forwarder. In most cases we arrange carriage with airlines, shipping lines and road hauliers rather than performing the carriage ourselves. Where we act as agent, the carrier's own conditions of carriage also apply to your consignment.

Depending on the route and the goods, we arrange:

• Air freight — for time-sensitive, high-value or low-volume consignments.
• Ocean freight — full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL).
• Road freight — domestic and cross-border trucking, including collection and final delivery.
• Customs clearance — preparing and lodging entries on your behalf where you have authorised us to do so.
• Warehousing and consolidation — short-term storage and grouping of shipments, where agreed in writing.
• Shipment tracking — status updates against your tracking number on this website.

We may decline any consignment, in whole or in part, at our discretion. If we decline after payment, we refund the charges paid for the declined portion.

• Quotations are based on the information you give us at the time — origin, destination, weight, dimensions, commodity and required service level. They are valid for 14 days unless the quotation itself states otherwise.
• A quotation is an invitation to book, not a binding contract. A contract forms when we confirm your booking in writing and issue a tracking number.
• Charges are recalculated if the actual weight, volumetric weight, dimensions or commodity differ from what was quoted. Volumetric weight is calculated using the carrier's applicable divisor.
• Quotations exclude duties, taxes, customs examination fees, demurrage, detention, storage, and any charge imposed by a customs or port authority, unless expressly stated as included.
• Carrier-imposed surcharges — including fuel, security, currency adjustment, peak season and war risk surcharges — may change between quotation and shipment and are passed on at cost.
• Unless agreed otherwise in writing, charges are payable before release or delivery of the consignment. Invoices not settled by their due date may attract interest at 1.5% per month.
• We hold a general lien over goods and documents in our possession for all sums you owe us. Goods held under lien for more than 60 days may be sold and the proceeds applied to the debt.

When you book with us, you warrant that:

• You are the owner of the goods, or the authorised agent of the owner, and are entitled to accept these Terms for anyone else with an interest in them.
• Every description, weight, dimension, value and commodity code you give us is complete and accurate. You are responsible for any loss, delay, fine or penalty caused by a declaration that is wrong or incomplete.
• The goods are packed, marked and labelled so they withstand the ordinary handling, stacking, vibration and climate changes of the transport mode booked. Inadequate packing is not a defect we are liable for.
• All documents required for export, transit and import — commercial invoice, packing list, licences, certificates of origin, permits — are supplied accurately and on time.
• The goods are not prohibited or restricted, and any dangerous goods have been declared before booking.
• The delivery address and recipient contact details you give us are correct. Re-delivery, address correction and storage charges caused by incorrect details are rechargeable to you.

We do not accept the following, whether declared or not:

• Currency, bearer instruments, bullion, precious stones and negotiable securities.
• Narcotics, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.
• Firearms, ammunition, explosives, and parts or replicas of them.
• Counterfeit or pirated goods, and anything infringing a third party's intellectual property.
• Live animals, human remains and human or animal body parts.
• Goods whose export or import is prohibited by any applicable law or sanctions regime.
• Undeclared dangerous goods of any kind.

Dangerous goods

Dangerous goods are accepted only where declared before booking and accepted by us in writing. They must be classified, packed, marked, labelled and documented in accordance with the applicable regime — the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations for air, the IMDG Code for sea, or ADR for road.

If prohibited or undeclared dangerous goods are found in a consignment, we may abandon, destroy or surrender them to the authorities without liability to you, and you remain responsible for all charges, fines and costs that result.

Perishables and temperature-controlled goods

Perishable and temperature-sensitive goods are carried only by prior written arrangement and entirely at your risk. We do not accept liability for deterioration caused by transit time, customs delay or temperature variation.

• Where we lodge a customs entry, we do so as your agent and on the basis of the information you supply. You remain the declarant and the importer or exporter of record.
• All duties, taxes, levies and clearance charges are your responsibility, whether billed to you before or after delivery. Where we advance these sums, you reimburse us on demand.
• Customs authorities may inspect, detain, test or seize a consignment. We are not liable for delay, damage or loss caused by their actions, and inspection charges are rechargeable to you.
• You are responsible for confirming that goods may lawfully be exported from the origin country and imported into the destination country, including licensing and sanctions screening.
• Goods refused entry at destination are returned, abandoned or destroyed at your cost and on your instructions. Where you give no instructions within 30 days, we may act at our discretion.

• Transit times quoted are estimates based on normal conditions and are not guaranteed, unless we have expressly agreed a guaranteed service in writing.
• We are not liable for delay caused by customs, weather, port or airport congestion, carrier schedule changes, security screening, strikes, or any event outside our reasonable control.
• Delivery is made to the address on the booking during normal business hours. Someone authorised must be present to receive and sign for the consignment.
• Where delivery cannot be completed, we may return the consignment to the origin, hold it in storage or arrange re-delivery. Storage, return and re-delivery charges are payable by you.
• Signature on the delivery receipt without a noted exception is evidence that the consignment was received complete and in apparent good order.

Our liability for loss of or damage to goods is limited by the international conventions and carrier conditions that apply to the leg of carriage concerned, including:

• the Montreal Convention 1999 for international carriage by air;
• the Hague-Visby Rules for international carriage by sea;
• the CMR Convention for international carriage by road, where applicable.

Where no convention applies, our liability is limited to the lower of the invoiced value of the goods or 2 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) per kilogram of the gross weight of the part of the consignment lost or damaged.

In no case are we liable for indirect or consequential loss — including loss of profit, loss of market, loss of contract, business interruption or reputational harm — however it arises, even if we were told such loss was possible.

We are not liable for loss or damage caused by:

• inherent vice, natural deterioration or the ordinary characteristics of the goods;
• insufficient or unsuitable packing, marking or labelling by you;
• an inaccurate or incomplete declaration;
• the act, omission or insolvency of any party other than us, including carriers and customs brokers;
• force majeure — war, civil unrest, terrorism, epidemic, natural disaster, embargo, strike, or the act of any government or authority.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud, or for any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

The liability limits above are set by convention and are almost always far lower than the commercial value of a consignment. They are not insurance.

We strongly recommend you arrange all-risks marine or transit insurance covering the full value of your goods. We can arrange cover on request, in which case:

• Cover must be requested in writing before the consignment is collected, stating the value to be insured.
• We arrange cover as your agent with an insurer. We are not the insurer and do not underwrite the risk.
• Cover is subject to the terms, exclusions and excesses of the policy issued, which we make available on request.
• Premiums are charged in addition to freight charges.

If you do not request cover, your consignment travels uninsured beyond the limited liability described above.

Claims must follow the timetable below. These time limits are strict — a late claim may be time-barred by the applicable convention regardless of its merits.

• Visible loss or damage — note it on the delivery receipt at the moment of delivery and notify us in writing within 3 days.
• Concealed damage — notify us in writing within 7 days of delivery.
• Non-delivery or delay — notify us in writing within 21 days of the date the consignment should have been delivered.
• Full documented claim — submit within 9 months of the date of delivery, or of the date delivery should have taken place.

Send claims to support@apexcargoint.com with the tracking number, the commercial invoice, the packing list, photographs of the packaging and goods, and a statement of the amount claimed.

Please keep the goods and all packaging available for inspection until the claim is resolved. Disposing of them early may prevent the claim being assessed.

Claims cannot be set off against freight charges; invoices remain payable while a claim is under review.

• Tracking information is provided in good faith from data supplied by us and by carriers. Status and timestamps may lag actual events and should not be relied on as proof of delivery. The signed delivery receipt is the definitive record.
• Tracking numbers should be treated as confidential. Anyone holding a tracking number can view that consignment's route and status on this site.
• The content, layout, design, wordmark and name of Apex Cargo International are owned by us or licensed to us. You may view, download and print pages for your own business use in connection with a shipment.
• You may not copy, republish, sell or systematically extract any part of this website, or present our content as your own, without our written permission.
• You may link to our homepage provided the link is fair and does not suggest an endorsement or association that does not exist. Framing our pages within another site is not permitted.
• We may suspend or withdraw the website at any time for maintenance or operational reasons, and we do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free availability.
• Do not use this website to transmit unlawful material, to attempt unauthorised access, or to interfere with its operation.

Handling a shipment means handling personal data — sender and recipient names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers — and passing it to the carriers, agents and customs authorities that need it to move and clear the consignment.

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what rights you have. It forms part of these Terms.

Where you give us the personal details of a third party — most often the recipient of a consignment — you confirm you are entitled to share those details with us for this purpose.

We may revise these Terms to reflect changes in our services, in carrier requirements or in the law. The version published on this page when you book is the version that governs your consignment.

The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page shows when the current version took effect. Continuing to use our services after a change means you accept the revised Terms.

These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of them or out of any service we provide (including non-contractual disputes), are governed by the laws of the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis (St Kitts and Nevis).

The courts of St Kitts and Nevis have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute. This does not affect the mandatory application of any international convention governing the carriage concerned, nor any right you may have to bring proceedings in another jurisdiction where the law gives you that right and it cannot be excluded by agreement.

Before starting proceedings, we ask that you raise the matter with us at support@apexcargoint.com so we have the chance to resolve it directly. Most issues are settled this way.

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.