Licence Contract
between
Fair TradeMark Canada
(hereafter referred to as "TransFair")
and Company xyz
(hereafter referred to as the "Licensee")
Preamble
TransFair is a national member organization of the Association "TransFair InternationaL e.V.", which is the owner of a Collective Mark registered in Canada as well as in other countries for products traded according to the principles of fair trade. Through the use of the Collective Mark both organizations want to promote the sales of fairly traded products and the advantages of fair trade for smaller producers in the countries of origin. In accordance with the statutes of both organizations it is permissible to allow non-members to use the Collective Mark. The Licensee is planning to sell fairly traded coffee and to label it with the Collective Mark. For this purpose the parties to the present contract enter into the following agreement:
Article 1. Object covered by the Licence, Contract Product
(1) The object covered by the licence is the Collective Mark depicted in Appendix 1. The object covered by the licence has been registered as a Collective Mark with the Federal Office for Patents of Canada with the registration Number TMA445,974 and with the Federal Office for Patents of the Federal Republic of Germany with the registration Number 2021679 and with the International Office in Geneva with the IR-Number 595860.
(2) The contract product is fairly traded coffee, i.e. coffee, which has been produced, traded, processed and marketed in accordance with the criteria laid down in the present contract. TransFair may change these criteria in accordance with the regulations laid down in the present contract.
(3) TransFair assures that it is capable of and entitled to enter into licence agreements on the object covered by the licence in the contract territory (see Article 3 below) as well as to administer and to fulfil them.
Article 2 Licence permission
(1) The licensee shall be granted a simple, non-exclusive, and non- transferable licence to use the object covered by the licence on the contract product in the contract territory (see below) in accordance with the regulations laid down in the present contract and to the extent stipulated therein.
(2) TransFair shall undertake to grant the right to use the object covered by the licence for the contract product described in Article 1.2 above to third parties only in the case of the said party undertaking, in the same way as the licensee, to comply with the criteria laid down in Articles 1.2. and 4.2.
Article 3 Contract territory
(1) The contract territory is the territory of Canada.
(2) The licensee shall promise not to take any steps to actively market the contract product outside the contract territory without the specific written permission of TransFair, and in particular not to advertise, nor engage in any other promotional activities nor run sales-depots outside the contract territory.
Article 4 Conditions of Purchase for Coffee
(1) The licensee may purchase the contract product either from small producers or small producer-associations authorized by TransFair, or from an importer authorised by TransFair.
(2) In the case of purchase from a small producer or a small producer- association the licensee shall undertake to comply with the criteria laid down n Appendix 2 (in particular with regard to minimum quality, prefinancing, rules for the drawing up of the supply-contracts etc.) and to provide the relevant evidence of compliance. In the case of purchase from an authorized importer the licensee shall undertake to comply with the criteria laid down in Appendix 3 and to provide evidence of compliance.
(3) The register of authorized producers or producer-associations and authorized importers valid at the time of ratification of the present contract is enclosed in Appendix 4. TransFair has the right to delete from, or add to, these registers, producers, producer-associations, or importers. In the case of deletion the licensee may no longer enter into supply-agreements on the purchase of coffee with the producers, producer-associations or importers deleted from the register from the moment of having been informed of the deletion or of the date on which the deletion by TransFair shall take effect. The fulfilment of orders already placed at the time of notification of the deletion is limited to a period of four months from the date of notification to the licensee; this does not apply, if the licensee did have or should have had prior knowledge of the causes which lead to the deletion.
(4) The producer or producer-association of the product covered by the contract shall receive a minimum price, which is calculated on the basis of Appendix 5. The prices referred to are non-binding recommended minimum- prices for raw coffee. The licensee shall watch over the compliance with s for raw coffee. The licensee shall watch over the compliance with these minimum prices even in those cases, where he/she is supplied via an intermediary (importer).
(5) The criteria set out in paragraph (2) may be amended by TransFair. TransFair shall give the licensee reasonable advance notice of all important amendments, usually 3 months prior to the amendment taking effect.
(6) In the case of the licensee not purchasing raw coffee, but rather fully or partially processed coffee, he/she shall be obliged to supply evidence in a satisfactory manner of compliance with the criteria laid down in paragraph (2); the parties shall come to a separate arrangement on the content and form of this proof.
Article 5 Licence Fee
(1) The licensee shall pay TransFair a licence fee of Cdn.$ 0.13 per pound of green coffee, to be determined on the basis of Appendix 2 and Appendix 3.
(2) The licence fee shall be accounted for and paid on a quarterly basis. The licensee shall present his/her accounts within 30 days after the end of the quarter of a calendar year just passed, and will pay the licence fees for this period to TransFair. Payments are to be transferred to TransFair's bank account number 050928 at the Caisse Populaire St-Jean-Baptiste d'Ottawa, 725 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6P7
Article 6 Regulations for the use of the Object covered by the Licence
(1) The licensee shall undertake to make regular use of the object covered by the licence and to endeavour as far as possible to promote the sale of the contract product.
(2) The licensee shall undertake to use the object covered by the licence exclusively for contract products (Article 1.2.). He/she shall abstain from any action which might cause or promote confusion with products other than the contract product. He/she shall undertake, for the duration of the present contract and within eight months following termination of the present contract, not to purchase, promote or sell without prior consent by TransFair any other coffee, which is described as fairly traded or which might in any other way compete with the contract product (Article 1.2.). The licensee has no claim to permission or upholding of the consent.
(3) The licensee shall undertake to depict the object covered by the licence in an obvious fashion on any packaging of the contract product and meant for the final purchaser, and to print a covering note on the contract product, as well as provide the name and postal and electronic addresses of TransFair. Particular regulations regarding the size and location of the object covered by the licence, format and wording of the covering note, as well as the note on TransFair are to be taken from Appendix 6. TransFair has the right to change all guidelines stipulated in Appendix 6 with nine months' notice.
(4) The licensee shall present TransFair with all packaging, promotional material, advertising campaigns, sales promotion campaigns, price-lists and other advertising material aimed at the final purchaser and related to the object covered by the licence (as long as these contain factual information on the object covered by the licence) before it is to be distributed for the first time.
(5) The licensee shall abstain, in particular, in the design of the packaging and its promotional activities, from anything which might create the impression that the final purchaser or other third parties might have claims against TransFair (legal claims, claims resulting from product liability, etc.). In the case of the licensee violating this duty and of resulting claims against TransFair, the licensee shall provide TransFair with compensation and hold it free from such claims.
(6) In the case of the licensee purchasing, processing or distributing coffee other than that of the contract product (raw as well as roasted coffee), it shall keep separate accounts for the contract product.
Article 7 Violations of Rights of Protection and Competition
(1) The licensee shall undertake to inform TransFair without delay of any violations of the use of the object covered by the licence and to assist TransFair in the litigation of these violations. The licensee is not obliged to share in the costs of the litigation.
(2) The licensee shall undertake, when promoting or selling the contract product not to offend against principles governing unfair competition. It has been informed of the strict requirements of the courts in regard to promotional activities with an ethical component. The advantages of fair trading for the small producers are to be depicted in a positive and truthful manner; any denunciation of rival products not marketed via fair trade channels is to be avoided. In cases of doubt, the importer should seek coordination with TransFair.
(3) The licensee shall inform TransFair without delay about legal proceedings undertaken by him or against him on matters of competition.
Article 8 Entitlement to Inspection and Information
(1) The licensee shall provide TransFair quarterly of his/her own accord with copies of delivery contracts entered into during the relevant accounting period, together with the accounts in accordance with Article 5.2 of this contract, as well as delivery notes which it has received or provided regarding the contract product supplied by itself (raw and roasted coffee). The delivery notes have to provide information on both quantity and quality of the contract product.
(2) The importer shall undertake to provide, within six months of the end of every business year, a written statement from the auditor hired by it, which certifies that the statements submitted for the completed business year are in accordance with the criteria as set out in Articles 4.2 and 4.3., as well as the accounting regulations as set out in Article 5.2., and the obligation to inform as set out in paragraph (1) of the present article.
(3) TransFair is entitled to have an authorised representative inspect, at any reasonable office-hour, all business documents and production processes on the business premises of the licensee, as well as in the business premises of processing companies contracted by or cooperating with the licensee, in as much as this is relevant to keeping a check on compliance with the clauses of the present contract. The licensee is required to present and make possible the copying of any relevant documents. It is, furthermore, required to provide any information needed. If a violation of the importer against the present contract is detected, it shall pay for the costs of the inspection.
(4) TransFair shall undertake to keep all business secrets of the licensee, of which it may gain knowledge, in confidence and not pass them on to third parties.
(5) The licensee agrees to allow TransFair to undertake a credit check through an authorized credit bureau, and to provide, in confidence, the necessary banking and financial information necessary to do this.
Article 9 Duration of the Contract
(1) The present contract shall take effect on <DATE> and is entered into for an unlimited period.
(2) The present contract can be terminated by either party with 3 months' notice to the end of a calendar month. The right to immediate termination for serious grounds remains unaffected.
(3) The following in particular constitute serious grounds entitling TransFair to terminate the contract immediately:
Article 10 Contract termination procedure
(1) The licensee may promote and sell contract products labelled with the object covered by the licence until the termination of the contract, and no longer. The same applies in the case of an immediate termination by TransFair. In case of a regular termination of the contract (see Article 9.2) the parties to the contract shall negotiate a limited opportunity for continued sales of such licence products, which the licensee already had in storage at the time of termination, or for which it has entered into binding supply contracts, which cannot be cancelled unilaterally. When negotiating this period of continued selling, the following factors shall be taken into account with regards to the interests of the licensee: its smallest possible financial loss, its possible (part) responsibility for the termination of the contract, and its other sales opportunities; and with regards to the interests of TransFair its market responsibility for the licence product, the credibility of fair trade, and the interest of equal treatment of all licensees
(2) The licensee shall submit final accounts within 30 days of the termination of the contract and pay, without delay, the licence fees resulting from the final accounting. In the case of immediate termination by TransFair it is not entitled to set off or to exercise the right of retention against TransFair.
(3) Upon termination of the contract the licensee shall, at TransFair's discretion, hand over free of cost or destroy, and document the destruction of, all documents (printing masters, promotional material, stickers with the object covered by the licence etc.). Empty packaging material already imprinted with the object covered by the licence and the information described in Article 6.3 has to be destroyed and the destruction documented, unless it has been proven that the object covered by the licence and the information described in Article 6.3. has been removed. The licensee is not entitled to set off or to exercise the right of retention against TransFair.
Article 11 Jurisdiction
(1) The place of jurisdiction for any disputes arising from the present contract shall be Ottawa, Ontario. TransFair is also entitled to take legal action at the seat of the licensee or at its own seat. (2) This contract and all cases arising out of it shall be exclusively dealt with by means of the laws of Canada and/or the Provinces of Ontario and <province of licensee> as applicable.
Article 12 Final Clauses
(1) Any amendments to the present contract shall be set down in writing. In cases, where unilateral amendments to, or adaptations of, the contract by TransFair are possible, written notification from TransFair to the licensee shall suffice.
(2) Appendices 1 to 6 as well as the Statutes of the Collective Mark and the Regulations governing the Implementation of the Collective Mark (up to date version in Appendix 7) in their relevant versions are part of this contract. The versions relevant at the time of ratification are enclosed.
Article 13 Partial Invalidity
Should any of the individual provisions of the present contract become invalid, either wholly or in part, or in the case of gaps in the present contract, all other provisions of the present contract shall remain valid. The invalid clause or gap shall be replaced by such a provision as would have been agreed upon by the parties, had they foreseen the invalidity or been aware of the gap.
Ottawa, Ontario, DATE |
City of xyz, DATE
|
for TransFair |
for the Licensee
|
Appendix 1
Common Mark Standards for the Usage of the Common Mark: Any possibility of mistaking the TransFair-logo for a product-trade-mark has to be prevented against when designing packaging right from the beginning. The logo has to be reproduced solely from masters provided by TransFair InternationaL, including the word "TransFair" written in capital letters. Independent of any particular usage, the logo has to stand clear all around. The TransFair-logo may only be reproduced in black/white.
See also appendix 6 for details of use of the logo.
Appendix 2
Guidelines for the Importation of Coffee from Small Producers or Small Producer Associations
Appendix 3
Guidelines for the Importation of Coffee from Authorised Importers
Appendix 4 - Register of Fair Trade Coffee Producers
ORG_ID | ORG_SHORT | PH_PLACE | PH_REGION | COUNTRY | |
0001 | CORACA IRUPANA | Irupana | Sud Yungas; La Paz | Bolivia | |
0002 | COAINE | Caranavi ; Central Nor Este | La Paz | Bolivia | |
0003 | CENCOOP | Coroico | La Paz | Bolivia | |
see the remainder of this list in the previous menu
Appendix 5
Recommended Minimum Prices for the Purchase of Raw Coffee The prices listed in the following pages are recommended minimum prices for the purchase of raw coffee from the producer-associations. Therefore they are not binding for the licensee or the importer. The licensee or importer, however, are advised that they might violate regulations concerning unfair competition, if they describe coffee purchased at prices lower than the ones listed on the following pages as "fairly traded coffee", and/or mark it with the TransFair-label.
Max Havelaar/TransFair/Fairtrade conditions for the purchase of coffee
For Robustas, the London "LCE" market shall be the basis of calculation. The price shall be established in US-dollars per metric ton, plus or minus the prevailing differential for the relevant quality, basis F.O.B. origin, net shipped weight.
When by legal regulation, all coffee has to be passed through the auction, importer and exporter will agree on a reasonable margin for the exporter to cover his costs.
Type of coffee | regular | certified organic | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Central America Mexico, Africa |
South America Caribbean Area |
Central America Mexico, Africa |
South America, Caribbean Area |
|
washed arabica: | 126 | 124 | 141 | 139 |
unwashed arabica: | 120 | 120 | 135 | 135 |
washed robusta: | 110 | 110 | 125 | 125 |
unwashed robusta: | 106 | 106 | 121 | 121 |
Appendix 6
Specifications for the Design of Packaging Destined for the Final Consumer
Temporary exceptions to this specification may be approved by TransFair in writing, at the written request of the licensee.
For the depiction of the licence-product, only printing masters supplied by TransFair may be used.
The following information has to be given on the packaging in an easily readable manner: origin of the coffee, coffee-specie(s), trade-name of the licensee, company of the licensee, final consumption date, name and address of TransFair. In the case of blended coffees it is not required to mention proportions of changing origins or proportions of minor volume.
Furthermore it is required to print on the back or side of the packaging in an easily readable type, the following text, or an equivalent text approved in writing by TransFair:
"This high quality coffee has been awarded with the TransFair-seal for 'Fair Trade' by TransFair, an association of organizations which promote trading relationships with the 'Third World' on a basis of partnership.
"Fair Trade supports and improves the conditions of lifelihood for small farmers overseas. It does not provide development aid, but rather supports self-reliance and equality for those producers who are disadvantaged under present trading conditions.
"The specific measures of 'Fair Trade' include:
- Producer prices which are significantly higher than the world market price
- Adequate prefinancing
- Longer term supply
- and purchasing contracts.
<The following passage is not obligatory):
This TransFair-labelled coffee provides coffee-connoiseurs with a well blended mixture of beans from (... e.g. small farmers' cooperatives in Ecuador). Therefore you have not only selected a coffee-blend from (e.g. one of the world's best coffee-growing regions), but you have also contributed to the strenghtening of structures of self-support in these areas.
If you want to know more about TransFair and fair trade, please write to the following address: Fair TradeMark Canada 323 Chapel St. 2nd floor Ottawa, ON K1N 7Z2 Tel. 613-563-3351 Fax 237-5969 Email: bthomson@web.net
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