SCHENKER INTERNATIONAL (HK) LTD v NATURAL DAIRY (NZ) HOLDINGS LTD

High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Court of First Instance, Deputy High Court Judge Cooney SC, 3 February 2017

Contract – Transport contract concluded – Whether wrong defendant

This was a dispute arising from a series of shipments of dairy products from New Zealand to China, arranged by the plaintiff logistics company on behalf of the CIF seller under a supply agreement. The agreements for the shipments had taken place through correspondence over time and the defendant denied being the right defendant, asserting that the parties to the supply contract were the right defendants to the various unpaid invoices. The judge found on the evidence that the parties had entered into carriage contracts with the defendant as a party. The change from CIF terms to Ex Works and then to FOB resulted in the defendant being responsible for ocean freight charges. The plaintiff's standard terms and conditions were conditions of the contract. The terms thereof were not particularly onerous.