Customer's Obligation to Advance Charges
HAFFA Section 19.3
The Company at its discretion may request an advance to cover fees, duties, charges, taxes and/or other expenses payable before the Company's invoice is rendered. Forthwith upon such request being made, the Customer shall make such advance to the Company.
NCBFAA Section 10.
Advancing Money.
All charges must be paid by Customer in advance unless the Company agrees in writing to extend credit to customer; the granting of credit to a Customer in connection with a particular transaction shall not be considered a waiver of this provision by the Company.
NSAB Section 10.
Notwithstanding the customer's obligations as to payment under contracts of sale or freight agreements with parties other than the freight forwarder, he has a duty upon request, to pay the freight forwarder what is due (remuneration, advance payment, refund of outlays) against appropriate documentation.
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Peter Jones' Commentary:
The NCBFFA Conditions avoid any inference that a forwarder must advance disbursements on behalf of a client, although many forwarders do so in practice. If, as is the practice in other countries, a forwarder enters into a credit agreement with its customer, this issue should be covered by its terms.
A recent article in the FIATA Bulletin pointed out that forwarders do advance charges, often in sizeable amounts. Forwarding is a "cash business", and , a clause prohibiting a customer from refusing to pay a forwarder's charges because of a set-off of damages claims against amounts owing is important to the industry.
A recent posting to forwarderlaw.com reviews the position of a customs broker who offers services pursuant to the Fenex Conditions. The practice in the Netherlands is that a customs broker offering its services subject to these conditions can demand security from the customer by way of a bank guarantee.