Polish forwarding rules
Issued by Polish International Freight Forwarders Association
POLISH GENERAL FORWARDING RULES 2022
(translation only – without prejudice)
GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 1.
1. The terms used herein shall have the following meanings:
1) Freight Forwarder – an entrepreneur who, commissioned by an Ordering Party, for a fee, undertakes to send or
receive a consignment, or to render any other services connected with organising the transport thereof;
2) Ordering Party – a legal person or an organisational unit which is not a legal person, granted legal capacity by law,
or a natural person, including natural persons who do not conduct a business activity, who has concluded an agree–
ment with the Freight Forwarder,
3) Sub–Forwarder – a subcontractor of the Freight Forwarder, entrusted by the Freight Forwarder with the perform–
ance of a part of the latter’s obligations arising from the freight forwarding agreement;
4) Substitute Forwarder – a subcontractor of the Freight Forwarder, entrusted by the Freight Forwarder with the
performance of all the latter’s obligations arising from the freight forwarding agreement concluded between the
Freight Forwarder and the Ordering Party;
5) Contracting Carrier – an entrepreneur who, in their own name, enters into a carriage agreement, i. e. expressly
gives to the contractor an undertaking that the consignment shall be delivered to its place of destination with the
use of a given means of transport, and assumes direct responsibility for achieving this result, yet does not perform
the carriage service themselves;
6) Goods with Specific Features – goods whose transport, storage, and other kinds of handling covered by the freight
forwarding agreement are connected with additional risk, due to the fact that the value of the goods is high or difficult
to estimate; because they are particularly susceptible to damage or destruction, or because it is necessary, with regard
to these goods, to fulfil additional administrative and documentation requirements, as well as any other requirements
resulting from binding provisions of law.
The following goods are regarded as Goods with Specific Features:
a) monetary values in the form banknotes and coins of national and foreign currencies, shares, bonds, cheques, pro-
missory notes, payment cards, credit cards, excise bands and excise marks, lottery tickets, public transport tickets,
and other documents which replace cash in transactions;
b) precious metals and articles made of precious metals; gems, pearls and articles of gems and pearls,
c) works of art, antiques, items of historical value, collectibles;
d) medicinal products;
e) corpses and human remains;
f) goods covered by the statutory transport and trade monitoring system;
g) dangerous materials;
h) arms and ammunition;
i) easily perishable goods and goods which require maintenance of constant temperature during their carriage and storage;
j) live animals;
k) resettlement belongings;
l) documents, models, prototypes, designs;
m) data recorded on all kinds of data carriers, with the exception of brand new magnetic and optical carriers with copy–
righted films, music, and computer software recorded on them, which are designed for sale;
n) fodder, animal by-products, and derivative products;
o) drug precursors;
p) waste;
r) oversize cargo;
s) goods other than those described above, which the Freight Forwarder defines in their offer or in the agreement
as Goods with Specific Features.
7) Shipping Container – a durable transport device with appropriate resistance, which provides the possibility
of multiple use, specially designed to facilitate cargo shipping by one or more means of transport without reloading
the cargo;
8) Cargo Handling Activities – Loading and Unloading of the consignment:
a) Loading – all the operations performed prior to the commencement of shipping, aimed at placing a consignment
within the construction of the vehicle itself or, if necessary, in a Shipping Container provided at the place of Loading,
taking into account appropriate distribution of the consignment (including the cargo), its packaging, and protection
(also on the means of transport);
b) Unloading – operations performed after the completion of shipment, aimed at emptying the Shipping Container
of cargo, such as, in particular: unlashing, removal of protection devices (including seals), and cleaning of the Shi-
pping Container, should it become soiled during Unloading, including the operations connected with moving the
cargo after the removal of seals, necessary to extract it from the Shipping Container;
9) Transshipment – servicing a consignment during the execution of the commission, aimed at moving the consi-
gnment between means of transport or within one means of transport, or between means of transport and a tran-
sshipment terminal or another place where the consignment is stored or stacked, directly connected to or realised
together with the freight forwarding agreement;
10) Force Majeure – an extraordinary occurrence which is beyond the control of either of the parties; which could
be neither foreseen nor avoided, and which took place, or whose results were revealed either after the conclusion
of the agreement or following the commencement of order execution. Pursuant to the Polish General Freight For-
warding Rules 2022, force majeure is to be understood as, in particular, the occurrence of (one or more, together
or separately) floods, hurricanes or other natural disasters, as well as weather anomalies, terrorist attacks, epidem-
ics, actions or omissions by state authorities (including any acts of law passed by state authorities, which will affect
the possibility of the agreement’s performance by the Freight Forwarder), repair works or closures of infrastructure
on the route of the consignment’s transport, congestion and acts of war activities, to the extent in which the above-
mentioned occurrences affect the performance of the agreement, including the commission;
11) Document Form – a form of legal action which may be observed by making a statement of will in the form of
a written document, in the way which allows for identification of the person who made that statement. This includes
data carriers and means of electronic communication, particularly e-mail messages, text messages or other mes-
sages exchanged via instant messaging.
§ 2
1. The Polish General Freight Forwarding Rules 2022, hereinafter referred to as the PGFFR 2022, are applied to re-
lationships between the Freight Forwarder and the Ordering Party only in the situation where at least one of the
parties is a member of the Polish International Freight Forwarders Association.
2. The PGFFR 2022 are applied in their entirety, although subject to the precedence of other conditions specified
in the agreement concluded by the Freight Forwarder and the Ordering Party (which includes agreements con-
cluded as a result of the offer submitted by the Freight Forwarder).
3. Any statements made by the Ordering Party, particularly commissions or other contractual terms presented by
the Ordering Party to the Freight Forwarder, in any form, in relation to the Freight Forwarder’s offer, are applied
to the relationship between the Freight Forwarder and the Ordering Party solely to the extent in which such state-
ments correspond to the offer submitted by the Freight Forwarder, while they are applied in the remaining scope,
exceeding the contents of the offer or those of the concluded agreement, only after prior acceptance of these state-
ments by the Freight Forwarder, given in writing or in the Document Form under pain of nullity. Lack of an immedi-
ate answer from the Freight Forwarder, as well as the commencement of service performance shall not be regarded
as acceptance of the Ordering Party’s offer included in such statements.
§ 3
The PGFFR 2022 are applied to performance of freight forwarding agreements or commissions concerning Goods
with Specific Features defined in § 1, pp. 6) a)–e), l) and m) hereof. The Freight Forwarder’s liability for damage
resulting therefrom shall be excluded, except for damage which has been caused intentionally.
§ 4
1. An offer made by the Freight Forwarder covers only the activities specified therein, and the tariffs for services
mentioned in the offer are binding only during the validity period of the offer, unless the offer provides otherwise.
2. In the agreement concluded by the Freight Forwarder and the Ordering Party, including agreements concluded as
a result of the offer submitted by the Freight Forwarder, only remuneration and costs and expenses connected with
uninterrupted performance of the agreement are specified.
3. Should the Freight Forwarder receive from the Ordering Party with whom they maintain permanent economic
relations an offer (including the counter-offer mentioned in Art. 68 of the Civil Code) to conclude an agreement
as part of their business activity, lack of immediate response from the Freight Forwarder shall not be tantamount
to the approval thereof.
4. The Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for failure to perform or improper performance of services which were
commissioned orally from the Freight Forwarder, unless such a commission is confirmed without delay by the Freight
Forwarder or the Ordering Party in the Document Form or in writing, where the Freight Forwarder shall indicate,
in particular, the type of the confirmed service, as well as the amount of remuneration due to the Freight Forwarder.
Provisions of § 9, p. 2 of the PGFFR shall apply accordingly to performed services which were commissioned orally
and not confirmed in the form described above.
5. The Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for the consequences of additional instructions given directly by the
Ordering Party to any third parties participating in the realisation of service.
§ 5
1. The Freight Forwarder’s offer shall not be binding and shall not result in conclusion of an agreement, if it is un-
derstood from the commission that the subject of freight forwarding is an item belonging to the category of Goods
with Specific Features, which was not expressly indicated to the Freight Forwarder in the request for offer.
2. The commission shall include all the necessary information about a consignment and its characteristics, particu-
larly marks and numbers of individual items (packages), their number, weight, sizes, cubage, as well as the number
and type of transporting units. It shall also indicate whether the goods constituting the consignment belong to any
of the categories of Goods with Specific Features, and define the scope of commissioned services as well as any
other relevant data and documents necessary for proper execution of the commission.
3. In case the commission does not include one of the elements defined in p. 2 above, or if it contains other omi-
ssions or errors, the Ordering Party shall be obliged, at the Freight Forwarder’s request, to supplement any missing
information and address the omissions or remove the mistakes without delay.
4. Until all the shortcomings in the commission, mentioned above in p. 3, are addressed, the Freight Forwarder shall
be entitled to, at their discretion, suspend execution of the Commission in part or in its entirety, and shall inform
the Ordering Party thereof. Should the Ordering Party, after an additional deadline has been set by the Freight For-
warder, delay in addressing the shortcomings in the commission, the Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to termi-
nate the commission for a valid reason.
5. In case the Freight Forwarder exercises their rights mentioned above in pp. 2 and 4, the Ordering Party shall not
be entitled to file any compensation claims against the Freight Forwarder, even if the Freight Forwarder does not
inform the Ordering Party about the decision to exercise their rights.
6. Should the goods be subject to regulations for monitoring carriage of goods or to any other provisions regulating
specific principles connected with transport of a given type of goods, and should the Freight Forwarder grant their
express consent to rendering services with regard to such goods, execution of the commission shall be additionally
dependent on submission, by the Ordering Party to the Freight Forwarder, of all the necessary data, information,
documents, and other means indispensable for performance of the service in compliance with the aforementioned
regulations. In case the Ordering Party fails to do so, the Freight Forwarder’s liability shall be wholly excluded with
regard to the performance of a given service, and the Ordering Party shall be obliged to cover, in full, any possible
damage which has occurred on the part of the Freight Forwarder.
7. The Freight Forwarder shall be entitled, in particular, to establish the time and type of shipment, the kind of car-
riage, tariffs and principles of conduct, unless the parties unanimously decide otherwise, in writing or in the Docu-
ment Form, under pain of nullity.
§ 6
The Freight Forwarder shall not be obliged to perform the Loading or the Unloading. The risk and sole liability
for these operations shall be borne by the Ordering Party, unless the parties decide otherwise.
§ 7
At the Ordering Party’s express request, made in writing or in the Document Form, under pain of nullity, the Freight
Forwarder may conclude, on behalf of the Ordering Party, and at the Ordering Party’s exclusive expense, an insu-
rance agreement for the property in transport (cargo), provided that the Ordering Party submits to the Freight For-
warder before all the necessary information concerning the value and type of the goods.
§ 8
1. The Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to remuneration for handling complaint procedure on behalf of the Order-
ing Party or of any person indicated by the Ordering Party.
2. The Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to retain the amount of remuneration mentioned above in p. 1, in the
situation where the complaint is deemed justified, and the amount claimed is credited to the Freight Forwarder’s
bank account.
3. The complaint proceedings, mentioned above in p. 1, are not inclusive of handling, by the Freight Forwarder
on behalf of the Ordering Party, of any court proceedings, administrative proceedings, court-administrative pro-
ceedings, arbitration or mediation.
§ 9
1. The Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to remuneration from the Ordering Party, pursuant to the concluded agreement.
2. For additional services, not stipulated in the agreement, and rendered by the Freight Forwarder without the Ordering
Party’s approval, but for the purpose of appropriate realisation of the freight forwarding operation or in the best interest of
the consignment or of the Ordering Party, the Freight Forwarder shall be entitled, from the Ordering Party, to remuneration
in the amount corresponding to the market value of the services in question, if the Freight Forwarder renders the services
themselves. In case such services are rendered by a subcontractor, the Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to reimburse-
ment of the incurred costs and expenses, and to remuneration in the amount of 10% of the net value of the above-men-
tioned costs and expenses plus the VAT due, unless a higher amount of due remuneration has been agreed upon.
3. The remuneration mentioned above in p. 2, as well as all the costs and expenses, including those connected with parking,
demurrage, detention, storage, as well as any other costs incurred by the Freight Forwarder in connection with execution
of the freight forwarding commission, shall be paid by the Ordering Party at the Freight Forwarder’s first request, no later
than within seven days.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of p. 3 above, the Ordering Party shall be obliged, at the Freight Forwarder’s first request,
to make, without delay, an advance payment towards the remuneration, costs or expenses mentioned above in pp. 2 and
3, or to release the Freight Forwarder entirely from their liability by paying the amounts due directly into the bank account
of an authorised carrier or any other entity.
5. The Ordering Party shall not be released from their obligation to make payments for the Freight Forwarder’s benefit
in the situation where the Ordering Party indicates a third person as the invoice payer.
6. The rates indicated in the Freight Forwarder’s offer are binding, subject to the availability of equipment and space on
a vessel, on any other means of transport, or at the storage site, and on condition that the Loading onto a vessel or any
other means of transport is performed by the day specified by the carrier as the date of loading. Lack of space on a vessel
or any other means of transport, lack of equipment, or lack of storage space shall constitute, for the Freight Forwarder, the
grounds for terminating the agreement for a valid reason, without liability for possible damage incurred by the Ordering
Party.
§ 10
Seizure, forfeiture, confiscation, lien or detention of a consignment, as well as its sale by administrative bodies
or other similar bodies, or by the Freight Forwarder’s subcontractor, in particular by the carrier, shall not affect
the Freight Forwarder’s claims against the Ordering Party, particularly the claims for payment of due remuneration
and for reimbursement of costs or expenses.
§ 11
1. When placing an order with the Freight Forwarder, the Ordering Party declares that their financial position ena–
bles them to satisfy all liabilities towards the Freight Forwarder, that they are not, at present, the subject of bank–
ruptcy or restructuring proceedings, and that there are no reasons for such proceedings to be instigated. Should a
motion for instigation of such proceedings be filed with a court, the Ordering Party shall be obliged to inform the
Freight Forwarder thereof no later than on the day following the one on which the motion was filed.
2. The Freight Forwarder shall be entitled to retain the consignment covered by the freight forwarding agreement
until the day when full payment is made for the performed services, past and present, and until the expenses
incurred by the Freight Forwarder, as well as any other amounts due in connection with commissions hitherto
executed for the Ordering Party, together with interest thereon, are reimbursed. If such a payment is not made
by the deadline specified in an invoice, in any other accounting document or in a request for payment, the Freight
Forwarder shall be entitled to sell the consignment on conditions established at their discretion, by way of tender
or single-source sale, and to cover (set off) from the price obtained, firstly the amount due to the Freight Forwarder
for the services rendered by them, the interest and other costs connected with satisfying their claims. The Freight
Forwarder shall then be obliged to transfer the remainder of the sale proceeds into the bank account from which
the last invoice issued by the Freight Forwarder with regard to the Ordering Party’s commission was paid. On placing
a commission with the Freight Forwarder, the Ordering Party grants to the Freight Forwarder irrevocable power of
attorney to perform all the activities necessary to exercise the rights mentioned herein, including, in particular:
1) retention and disposal of goods covered by the commission to satisfy the Freight Forwarder’s claims
against the Ordering Party;
2) sale of the consignment on conditions established at the Freight Forwarder’s discretion, by way of ten
der or single-source sale, and to cover (set off) from the price obtained, firstly the amount due to the Freight
Forwarder for the services rendered by them, the interest and other costs connected with satisfying
their claims.
On placing a commission with the Freight Forwarder, the Ordering Party represents that they shall conduct any dis–
putes with the owner of the goods on their own, and undertakes the obligation to indemnify the Freight Forwarder
against any claims made by third parties, including claims for payment or return of goods, by way of settling the
amounts due.
3. The Ordering Party shall assume the entire liability for any damage to third parties’ assets, which may result
from the Freight Forwarder’s use of their rights mentioned hereinabove in p. 2, or of the right of statutory lien.
In case such third parties issue any claims against the Freight Forwarder, the Ordering Party undertakes the obliga–
tion to fully indemnify the Freight Forwarder against these claims. Should the Freight Forwarder satisfy the afore–
mentioned claims, the Ordering Party undertakes to fully reimburse the costs incurred by the Freight Forwarder
in this respect, at the Freight Forwarder’s first request.
§ 12
The Freight Forwarder shall be liable for the used by them in the execution of the commission in accordance with the
“fault in selecting” (culpa in eligendo) principle.
§ 13
1. The Freight Forwarder shall not be liable, in particular, for the following:
1) valuable consignments and dangerous goods, if they are not declared in the commission and accepted by the
Freight Forwarder in the concluded agreement;
2) damage caused by delay;
3) damage other than actual loss (damnum emergens);
4) natural defects;
5) damage caused by breaking or risk of breaking a cold chain;
6) damage caused by access or risk of access of third parties to the consignment;
7) damage caused by lack of due diligence on the part of the Ordering Party or any third party acting on behalf
of the Ordering Party as the entity handing the consignment for transport or collecting the consignment, provided
they were obliged to do so in the situation where the container was not sealed in the presence of a carrier, or where
entries were not made in the bill of lading, etc.;
8) damage caused by exercising, by the Freight Forwarder, the Sub–Forwarder, or the carrier their right of lien or
retention;
9) failure to perform or improper performance of the agreement in its entirety or in part for reasons beyond the
Freight Forwarder’s control, such as, in particular (when at least one of them occurs): force majeure, lack of space
on the means of transport, lack of equipment, service or storage space, increase or change in freight rates and the
Ordering Party’s refusal to accept the new rates;
10) delay caused by untimely operation of the container terminal.
2. The Freight Forwarder may no, in any case, be charged with failure to exercise due diligence in executing the
commission, if:
a) loss of or damage to a consignment is caused solely by fault of an authorised person, their instructions which do
not result from the fault of the Freight Forwarder or the Freight Forwarder’s carrier-subcontractor, defects of the
goods, or from circumstances which could not be avoided by the Freight Forwarder, and whose effects they could
not prevent;
b) loss of or damage to a consignment due to one or more of the following reasons (each of them individually):
– lack of or defective packaging, if the activities connected with packing were not, under the concluded agreement,
included in the Freight Forwarder’s obligations, or if the goods, due to their natural properties, perish or are da-
maged (including partial damage), in particular by breakage, rust, self–deterioration, desiccation, leakage, natural
defects, and activity of insects or rodents;
– loading of the goods by the shipper into open-top Shipping Containers;
Unless agreed otherwise by the parties in writing or in the Document Form, under pain of nullity.
§ 14
1. Compensation paid by the Freight Forwarder, due to the person entitled to it under the freight forwarding agree–
ment, is limited to the ordinary value of a given consignment, indicated in an invoice or another document, subject
to the remaining provisions of the PGFFR 2022.
2. Nevertheless, under no circumstances may the compensation paid by the Freight Forwarder exceed the value
of 2 SDR per 1 kg of gross weight of a consignment which is missing, damaged, lost, destroyed, utilized, rejected,
or abandoned, regardless of the cause thereof.
3. The total amount of the compensation due from the Freight Forwarder shall not exceed the equivalent of the
amount of 50,000 SDR per each incident, unless compensation in a higher amount is obtained from the person
for whom the Freight Forwarder is liable.
§ 15
1. The Freight Forwarder shall be informed about any damage to a consignment or the probability of its occurrence
without delay, no later than within seven days from the date when the consignment in question was handed over
to the recipient or another authorised entity. In case such damage is not reported by the stipulated deadline, it shall
be assumed that the damage to the consignment did not occur during the execution of the freight forwarding com–
mission, or as a result of improper performance of their obligations by the Freight Forwarder.
2. Subject to the remaining provisions of the PGFFR 2022, the Ordering Party shall be entitled to file a complaint
with the Freight Forwarder. The complaint shall be submitted to the Freight Forwarder in writing or in the Document
Form, under pain of nullity, and shall include the necessary documents mentioned hereinafter in p. 3.
3. The complaint shall be accompanied by documents stating the condition and value of the consignment, and
confirming the circumstances in which the damage occurred. Any complaint without the aforementioned docu–
ments may be deemed by the Freight Forwarder to have not been submitted; should this be the case, the Freight
Forwarder shall be entitled to leave the complaint unprocessed, while the Ordering Party shall not be entitled to any
claims against the Freight Forwarder in relation thereto.
4. The Freight Forwarder’s failure to respond to the complaint shall not constitute recognition of the Ordering
Party’s claims included in this complaint.
FREIGHT FORWARDING
§ 16
1. The provisions of this chapter are applicable to agreements on sea freight, air freight, railway freight or road freight,
concluded by the Freight Forwarder, including the situation where the freight forwarding agreement is performed with
the use of more than one means of transport, unless the provisions of the PGFFR 2022 state otherwise.
2. The Incoterms ® Rule, in accordance with which a commercial agreement has been concluded, is provided to the
Freight Forwarder by the Ordering Party for information purposes only. Its invocation in the Freight Forwarder’s of-
fer shall not mean that the Freight Forwarder is obliged to perform the duties of the Ordering Party or of any other
entity which is a party to this commercial agreement.
§ 17
1. The transit time (TT) specified by the Freight Forwarder, as well as any other information relating to the time
within which the service ought to be provided (e. g. ETA. ETD), including all kinds of timetables, shipping service’s
timetables, sailing schedules or any other dates of departure or arrival, of calling at ports, as well as of arrival and
departure of aircraft, published by the Freight Forwarder, carriers or by any other entities, are indicative in nature
and are not guaranteed.
2. The Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for any delay in the execution of the commission or in the performance
of individual operations within this commission by the stipulated deadline, unless the parties decide otherwise
in writing or in the Document Form under pain of nullity.
§ 18
1. The Freight Forwarder shall not be not obliged to use services provided by controlling companies in order to verify
the condition of a container, a consignment or of seals, unless the performance of such a service clearly results from
the offer made by the Freight Forwarder, or unless the Freight Forwarder directly undertakes to perform such an
activity, in writing or in the Document Form, under pain of nullity.
2. Subject to other provisions of the PGFFR 2022, the Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for loss or damage
to the goods resulting from unsuitable or defective condition of a Shipping Container, even if such a Container
was provided by the Freight Forwarder as part of the execution of the freight forwarding commission, in the situ-
ation where the unsuitable or faulty condition of the Container was or would be visible upon the delivery thereof
to the loading site or during the operation of loading the goods into the Shipping Container.
3. The Ordering Party shall be solely liable for compliance of the weight of goods provided to the Freight Forwarder
with the actual weight of the goods.
§ 19
In case the parties agree that, as part of the freight forwarding services provided, the Freight Forwarder is obliged
to store the goods, the Ordering Party shall be obliged to submit to the Freight Forwarder, prior to the storage
of goods, in writing or in the Document Form, a list of guidelines concerning the conditions in which the goods
are to be stored, in the situation where the goods or the consignment require storage in special conditions.
Detailed provisions concerning sea freight forwarding
§ 20
The Ordering Party shall be obliged to define and provide the Freight Forwarder, in time sufficient for this informa-
tion to be taken into consideration in the plan for vessel loading, with verified gross mass (VGM) of a container.
This information shall be provided in accordance with binding provisions of law, and the Freight Forwarder shall be
issued with an appropriate certificate indicating the weighing method applied, as well as details of the weighing pro-
cedure, unless the activity of estimating the VGM clearly arises from the offer submitted by the Freight Forwarder,
who undertakes therein to provide this service for the benefit of the Ordering Party. Failure to determine or incor-
rect determination of the VGM, or failure to provide a certificate, shall entitle the Freight Forwarder to terminate
the freight forwarding agreement with effect on the day of submitting the statement concerning the container
or containers with regard to which the Ordering Party failed to perform the activities mentioned above. Such ter-
mination shall not result in liability for damages on the part of the Freight Forwarder, concerning failure to perform
the agreement or inappropriate performance thereof.
§ 21
1. Postage of bills of lading and other documents connected therewith takes place at the risk of the Ordering Party.
The Freight Forwarder shall not be liable for damage caused by loss of a bill of Lading or of a set of bills of lading,
sent to the Ordering Party or to a person indicated by the Ordering Party, even in the situation where the Freight
Forwarder concludes an agreement with the postal operator, courier company or any other similar entity.
2. The goods shall be released only after the original copy of the bill of lading, a TELEX release or a similar document
is presented, provided it is used and approved by sea carriers. In the situation where HBLs (House Bills of Lading) are
issued – the goods shall be released after original copies of these documents, a TELEX release or a similar document
is presented, provided it is used and approved by sea carriers.
3. In case there is no original copy of a bill of lading (if it was issued in such form), particularly if it has been lost,
the goods shall be released after the Ordering Party or, depending on the situation, another indicated entity, has
signed a letter of guarantee in the wording suggested by the Freight Forwarder, or on presentation of other securi-
ties indicated by the Freight Forwarder or the sea carrier, including, in particular, the delivery of a bank guarantee
or payment of a cash security deposit.
§ 22
In situations where the Freight Forwarder is an entity defined as the “Merchant” in the light of terms and conditions
of the bill of lading or other similar documents used by sea carriers, including, in particular, the sender, the ship-
per or the recipient, and claims are made against the Freight Forwarder (e. g. in connection with general average
or for any other reasons), the Ordering Party shall be obliged to fully indemnify the Freight Forwarder against liability
in this respect and, additionally, at the Freight Forwarder’s request, to pay an appropriate amount of money in order
to secure the Freight Forwarder’s recourse claims. In case the claims mentioned in the preceding sentence are satis-
fied by the Freight Forwarder, the Ordering Party shall be obliged to reimburse the Freight Forwarder for any costs
and expenses incurred in relation to satisfying the above-mentioned claims.
§ 23
The Ordering Party shall be obliged to perform, in good faith, all the factual and legal actions required for proper
execution, by a Freight Forwarder, of their obligations outlaid in terms and conditions of a bill of lading, or in other
documents of a similar nature, used by sea carriers.
INTERMODAL TRANSPORT OPERATORS
§ 24
1. This chapter of the PGFFR 2022 stipulates principles for rendering services by Intermodal Transport Operators
(ITO), which are binding in relationships between ITOs and their Ordering Parties, with regard to all services con-
nected with organising intermodal transport, rendered by ITOs.
2. General provisions and provisions concerning freight forwarding included in the PGFFR 2022 are applied to issued
not regulated differently in this chapter.
§ 25
The terms used in this part of the PGFFR 2022 shall have the following meanings:
1. Intermodal Transport – moving goods in the same Shipping Container classified as an intermodal transport unit
(ITU), with the use of at least two different branches of transport, for example, railway and road transport, as well
as moving empty ITUs in connection therewith;
2. Terminal Operations – necessary Transshipment of ITUs, their storage between different means of transport
or between means of transport of the same kind, as well as other ITU services provided during intermodal transport.
3. ITU – Intermodal Transport Unit (French Unité de Transport Intermodal, also in English ILU – Intermodal Loading
Unit) – a Shipping Container or a vehicle designed for carriage of goods by at least two different branches of tran-
sport, and for Terminal Operations, for example ISO containers, swap bodies, semi-trailers adapted to Transship-
ment with the use of a crane.
4. Intermodal Certificate – a document confirming reception for shipment with the use of Intermodal Transport, by
an ITO as the Freight Forwarder, of goods described by the Ordering Party in documents submitted to the ITO. The
ITO shall issue the Intermodal Certificate based solely on documents provided by the Ordering Party, and shall not
verify the compliance of actual condition of the consignment with contents of the above-mentioned documents.
5. Intermodal Consignment Note – a document confirming the reception, by an ITO as the Contracting Carrier,
of a consignment for Intermodal Transport. The document includes, in particular, a description of individual sections
of transport route, points where means of transport are changed, as well as types of transport used in a given section.
6. Network Principle – a principle of an ITO’s liability as the Contracting Carrier, in accordance with which the ITO’s
liability for damage is defined by these mandatory provisions which are applied to the stage of Intermodal Transport
where the damage occurred.
§ 26
1. The ITO, concluding an agreement with the Ordering Party, undertakes to send or collect an empty or loaded ITU
using Intermodal Transport, and to organise Terminal Operations or other services connected with the movement
thereof (Intermodal Freight Forwarder).
2. The ITO may issue an Intermodal Certificate at the Ordering Party’s request, in order to confirm reception
of goods for intermodal shipment.
§ 27
Under the agreement, the ITO undertakes action in order to establish at which stage of Intermodal Transport
the damage occurred, and performs the necessary activities to secure the Ordering Party’s rights in accordance
with binding regulations.
§ 28
The ITO may, as part of the agreement, carry a consignment over the entire route of Intermodal Transport or over
a part thereof; in such a situation, the ITO shall have both the rights and liabilities of a carrier.
§ 29
1. If the agreement is concluded based on an offer made by the ITO, provisions of § 4, p. 3 of the PGFFR shall be
applied accordingly.
2. In case the agreement is concluded with the Ordering Party using the ITO’s tariff, and the agreement does not
state otherwise, the ITO shall not accept commissions concerning Goods with Specific Features, defined in § 1 pp.
6) a)–m), r), hereof, and furthermore:
1) postal and courier consignments;
2) consignments not transported in ITUs.
§ 30
Remuneration payable to the ITO is established based on the agreement concluded by them with the Ordering
Party (including agreements concluded as a result of the offer tendered). Within the remaining, undefined scope,
remuneration may be established based on the ITO’s tariff, in force on the day when the agreement was concluded,
provided that the tariff was submitted or made available to the Ordering Party on conclusion thereof, in a form
allowing for its being retained and referred to in the ordinary course of business. In case of discrepancies between
the contents of the agreement and the tariff, the provisions of the former (including the offer) shall prevail.
§ 31
1. The Ordering Party shall be liable towards the ITO for proper closing and securing ITUs handed over to the ITO
for Intermodal Transport. Each ITU should be secured with container seals adjusted to the conditions characteristic
for such transport. The Ordering Party shall be obliged to ensure that numbers of seals or of other securities are
provided to the ITO prior to their acceptance of ITUs for Intermodal Transport.
2. In case the numbers of seals or of other securities used in a consignment are missing, the ITO shall call upon the
Ordering Party, in the Document Form, to perform the above-mentioned obligation, and the Ordering Party shall be
obliged provide the number of a seal or of another kind of security before the consignment is accepted for Inter-
modal Transport.
3. In case the Ordering Party, despite being requested to do so, fails to provide the ITO with the above-mentioned
numbers of seals or of other securities used in the consignment, the ITO shall be entitled to terminate the com-
mission within this scope. However, if the ITO decide to not to exercise this right and commences execution of the
commission, they shall be obliged to take action aimed at obtaining information on numbers of seals or of other
securities; and in case they:
a) fail to obtain the information on numbers of seals – read the number of the seal if it is attached to the ITU;
b) find that the seals are missing – secure the ITU with an appropriate seal at the Ordering Party’s expense, with-
out delay, before the consignment is handed over by the ITO for the subsequent stage or transport, and inform
the Ordering Party about the actions taken, also providing them with the number of the seal attached.
4. The ITO which performs the obligation indicated in p. 3 hereinabove, shall be released from the obligation stipu-
lated in § 27, and from liability resulting from unauthorized access of third parties to the ITU in question, which
occurred prior to the attachment of the seal or before the ITO obtained the number of that seal.
§ 32
1. Unless the agreement states otherwise, the ITO and their subcontractors are neither obliged nor entitled
to inspect the consignment in any other way than checking the visible external condition of the ITU.
2. The ITO shall be obliged to verify whether the received numbers of seals and markings of the ITU are correct, and
to inspect the condition of visible seals or other securities required for a given ITU.
Should there be any discrepancies with regard to the provided numbers of one or more seals, the ITO shall be
required to inform the Ordering Party about such discrepancies without delay, but no later than prior to handing
over of the consignment for the subsequent stage of transport.
3. The ITO may refuse to accept a consignment whose condition is unsuitable for safe Intermodal Transport and for
performance of Terminal Operations, which includes the situation where loose elements of equipment are impro-
perly mounted and secured. The ITO shall not be liable either for mounting open-top and flat rack ITUs, or for cover-
ing them with tarpaulin or an appropriate sheet.
4. Unless the agreement provides otherwise, the ITO shall not be liable for the Loading or Unloading of goods
into/from the ITU. The ITO, their subcontractor or each of them individually, do not take part in Loading Activities
as a rule, and are not liable for correct Loading of goods into ITUs, for securing the goods, for the condition, quan-
tity, quality or packaging thereof, or for the accuracy and completeness of data in documents regarding, inter alia,
the type, weight, volume, type or number of items, or condition of the goods.
§ 33
1. The ITO may, in the agreement concluded with the Ordering Party, undertake to transport a marked ITU, empty
or loaded, assuming the liability for its delivery with the use of Intermodal Transport (Contracting Carrier). The above-
mentioned obligation on the part of the ITO shall arise directly from the contents of the offer submitted by the ITO,
or from another statement made by them in writing or in the Document Form, and shall be confirmed by the ITO
by filing a completed Intermodal Consignment Note. If the ITO acts as a Contracting Carrier, they are obliged to pro-
vide the Ordering Party with a template of Intermodal Consignment Note to be completed; such a template shall in-
clude, in particular, the description of planned sections of the transport route and of the means of transport used.
2. The Intermodal Consignment Note shall be compliant with the transport commission. In case of omissions
or discrepancies between the Intermodal Consignment Note and the transport agreement, the parties shall be bound
by terms and conditions of the agreement, while the provision of § 2, p. 2 of the PGFFR 2022 shall also be applied.
3. Within the agreement concluded in accordance with p. 1 above, the ITO may use the services of subcontractors
such as railway carriers and road carriers. However, in such cases, the ITO shall be liable for the acts and omissions
of these subcontractors in the same way the ITO is liable for their own acts and omissions.
4. The ITO shall be entitled to perform the intermodal transport agreement in the manner they deem appropriate,
which includes using only road transport. In such a case, it shall be assumed that the parties concluded an agree-
ment on transport of goods by road.
5. Should there be no provisions in the agreement, at least in the Document Form, which explicitly indicate
the ITO’s obligations defined in p. 1 hereinabove, it shall be assumed that the Ordering Party has given their consent
and represents that the ITO is obliged to act within the scope stipulated in § 26, p. 1 hereof.
§ 34
1. The ITO mentioned in § 26, p. 1 hereof may not be charged with failure to exercise due diligence in their execution
of the consignment in the situation where the loss of or damage to the consignment occurred due to, in particular,
the fact that the goods were loaded by the sender into open top or flat rack ITUs.
2. The ITO mentioned in § 33, p. 1 of these PGFFR 2022, shall be liable for damage on the Network Principle.
FINAL PROVISIONS
§ 35
1. If both Parties have their respective registered seats (places of residence) in Poland, any disputes between
the Ordering Party and the Freight Forwarder shall be resolved by a common court of law with jurisdiction over
the registered seat of the Freight Forwarder.
2. If the Ordering Party’s registered seat or place of residence is abroad, any disputes between the Ordering Party
and the Freight Forwarder shall be resolved by a Polish common court of law with jurisdiction over the registered
seat of the Freight Forwarder (national jurisdiction).
3. Any disputes arising from the agreement concluded between the Ordering Party and the Freight Forwarder,
to which the provisions of these PGFFR 2022 are applied, or any disputes arising in connection with this agreement,
may be resolved, with the parties’ mutual consent, by the Arbitration Court at the Polish International Freight
Forwarders Association in Gdynia, in accordance with the Regulations of this Arbitration Court in force on the date
when the claim is filed.
§ 36
1. Should any provision of these PGFFR 2022 be deemed unenforceable or invalid, in part or in its entirety, this shall
not exclude the enforceability or validity of the remaining provisions hereof, or the enforceability or validity of the
remaining scope of any provision which was deemed unenforceable or ineffective in its part.
2. In the situation described in p. 1 above, any stipulation deemed invalid or unenforceable shall be substituted
by another provision, permitted in the light of law, which is most similar to the intent of the invalid or unenforceable
provision of the PGFFR 2022.
§ 37
1. Agreements concluded between the Ordering Party and the Freight Forwarder with the use of the PGFFR 2022
shall be governed by Polish law, unless the parties agree otherwise.
2. In case of any discrepancies between the Polish and English version of these PGFFR 2022,
the Polish version shall prevail.
§ 38
When the Ordering Party and the Freight Forwarder conclude an agreement with the application of some or of all
the provisions of the PGFFR 2022, the parties declare that, prior to the conclusion of such an agreement, they
familiarised themselves with the provisions of the PGFFR 2022 in so far as they are applicable to the agreement con-
cluded by the parties. The parties also represent that they agree to the provisions of the PGFFR 2022 being applied,
in the scope mentioned hereinabove, to the agreement concluded between them.