No.5 typhoon Du Surui, with great destructive power, brought floods to many parts of China, including North China, and some enterprises suspended their production and suffered serious damage. To help the affected foreign trade enterprises correctly invoke the force majeure clause, mitigate the liability of the enterprises, and protect their legitimate rights and interests, the trade promotion agencies quickly responded to the concerns of enterprises and issued the force majeure factual certificate upon the landing of the typhoon. CCPIT released the Notice to the National Trade Promotion Agencies on Issuing the Typhoon Du Surui Force Majeure Factual Certificate on July 30, and CCPIT Beijing forwarded this notice on its official website, WeChat and Weibo platforms on July 31, to raise awareness about the relevant services it can offer.
The typhoon flooded and damaged the equipment to be exported in the supply factory of a foreign trade enterprise in Hebei Province, and thus the enterprise cannot deliver equipment to foreign customers as agreed in the contract. This foreign trade enterprise asked for CCPIT Beijing’s help through the WeChat group chat established by CCPIT Beijing for serving enterprises on August 3. In accordance with the requirements specified in the notice issued by CCPIT and relevant working requirements, CCPIT Beijing completed consultation and guidance, fact verification and certificate issuance in an efficient, timely and standardized manner under the guidance of CCPIT and with the assistance of CCPIT Hebei, and issued the first typhoon Du Surui force majeure factual certificate in Beijing on August 17. This provided strong support for the enterprise in reduction and exemption of its liability for breach of contract and protection of its legitimate rights and interests.
The issuance of this force majeure factual certificate fully demonstrates that CCPIT Beijing timely responded to the requirement for coordinated actions among CCPITs across the nation, as well as to the requirement of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, actively promoted the coordinated development through the communication and coordination mechanism among CCPITs in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, innovated its ways of work, and improved the services to enterprises.
The force majeure factual certificate is a document issued by CCPIT, and by its branches and sub-branches across the nation as authorized by CCPIT, to certify the facts of force majeure at the application of an applicant, and it can be applied as important evidence when a party claims partial or complete exemption from the liability for non-performance, incomplete performance and delayed performance of a contract. The force majeure factual certificate, as the essential basis for enterprises to claim reduction or exemption of the liability for breach of contract according to law, guides enterprises to legally apply the international commercial laws and rules, and correctly invoke the force majeure clause, thus playing an important role in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, reducing or exempting enterprises from the liability for breach of contract, and enhancing mutual trust and understanding between the two parties to the contract. Recognized by governments, customs, chambers of commerce and enterprises in more than 200 countries and regions around the world, the force majeure factual certificate issued by CCPIT has strong authority and credibility abroad.
Chairman: Guo Huaigang First-level Inspector: Liu Yang Vice Chairman: Tang Hai...