Trade-Services Terms & Liability
Company Trade-Services Terms of Service and Liability Disclaimer
These Terms govern the export trade services (“Services”) provided directly by Altonex Global Trading – F.Z.E, a company registered in Ajman Free Zone, United Arab Emirates, under Trade License No. 52340 (“the Company,” “we,” “us”). These Terms are separate from, and independent of, the terms of use of the Altonex Global online platform (“the Platform”). The Platform is a B2B trade discovery and RFQ tool; the Company is the entity that delivers the paid trade services described below. Engaging with the Platform does not, by itself, create any service engagement with the Company, and engaging the Company for a service does not change the RFQ-only, no-checkout nature of the Platform.
By requesting, instructing, or paying for any Service described in these Terms, the requesting party (“Client,” meaning a buyer-side or supplier-side client as applicable) agrees to be bound by these Terms.
1. Scope of Services
The Company provides fixed-fee, export-focused trade support services, which may include:
For buyer-side clients
- Supplier verification and due-diligence checks (e.g. business licensing checks, document review, factory/company profile review).
- Coordination of factory inspection, shipment inspection, and loading supervision, carried out by independent third-party inspection providers.
- Coordination of product laboratory testing, carried out by independent third-party testing laboratories.
- Managed sourcing support (“Sourcing Desk”): identifying, shortlisting, and helping evaluate candidate suppliers for a buyer’s stated requirement.
- Import documentation and compliance support (e.g. reviewing shipment paperwork, flagging destination-market documentary requirements known to the Company at the time of the engagement).
For supplier-side clients
- Export certification facilitation for destination-market regulatory regimes — for example Saudi Arabia’s SASO/SABER conformity programs, Nigeria’s SONCAP, Kenya’s KEBS PVoC, the Eurasian Economic Union’s EAC (CU TR 030/2012) requirements, or Egypt’s GOEIC/CAPQC and Indonesia’s SNI regimes — where such certification is coordinated with the relevant accredited or competent bodies for the destination market in question.
- Coordination of factory audits with independent third-party audit providers.
- Preparation support for a supplier seeking “Verified Supplier” status on the Platform (organizing documentation, coordinating the underlying audit); the Company does not itself decide the outcome of an independent audit.
- Marketing, content, and market-intelligence support (e.g. company profile content, market data summaries) to help a supplier present its export offering.
The exact scope, deliverables, timeline, and price of any engagement are defined in a written quotation and, upon acceptance, a written order confirmation or engagement letter specific to that Client. These Terms apply to every engagement together with that written scope document; where the written scope document is more specific, it governs the particular engagement.
2. Fees and Payment
All Services are provided for a fixed service fee, agreed in writing before work begins. The Company does not charge, and will not accept, any fee calculated as a percentage or share of the value of the underlying trade, purchase order, or shipment.
The engagement process is sales-assisted, not self-service:
- Client submits a request describing the service needed.
- The Company reviews the request and defines the scope of work.
- The Company issues a written quotation.
- Upon Client’s written acceptance, the Company issues an invoice.
- Payment is made by bank transfer to the Company’s business bank account, according to the payment terms stated on the invoice.
The Company does not operate an online “pay now” checkout, does not hold client funds in escrow, and does not act as a payment processor or payment intermediary for any transaction — whether for its own service fees or for any goods transaction between a buyer and a supplier. The Company does not charge or receive any commission, referral fee, or success fee tied to whether a buyer and supplier ultimately complete a trade.
3. Relationship of the Parties
The Company is a professional trade-services provider. The Company is not the seller, buyer, importer, exporter, manufacturer, or owner of any goods referenced in connection with a Service, and the Company is not a party to any sale, purchase, or supply contract between a buyer and a supplier.
Where the Company provides Sourcing Desk support, it facilitates the identification, shortlisting, and evaluation of candidate suppliers on the buyer’s behalf, as a paid facilitation service. It does not negotiate, sign, guarantee, or take on any contractual obligation under the resulting supply agreement. Any purchase order, contract, or trade agreement is negotiated and concluded directly and independently between the buyer and the supplier, off-platform, and the buyer and supplier each bear full responsibility for that agreement, its performance, and its outcome.
Note on facilitation and agency classification. Introducing buyers to suppliers and supporting a buyer’s sourcing process on a fixed-fee basis, as described for the Sourcing Desk service above, may touch on questions addressed by the UAE Commercial Agencies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 3 of 2022), which governs registered commercial agency relationships in the UAE. Whether the fixed-fee, non-exclusive, facilitation-only Sourcing Desk service described in these Terms falls inside or outside the scope of that law has not yet been the subject of a formal legal confirmation. Until such confirmation exists, the Company’s Sourcing Desk service is described, and should be understood, strictly as the non-exclusive facilitation service set out above — not as a registered commercial agency, and not as exclusive representation or negotiation authority on the Client’s behalf.
Nothing in these Terms, and no Service delivered under these Terms, creates a partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship making the Company responsible for the acts, omissions, solvency, or performance of any buyer or supplier.
4. Third-Party Accredited Providers
Physical inspections, laboratory testing, factory audits, and destination-market certification work are carried out by independent, internationally accredited third-party inspection, testing, audit, and certification bodies engaged by the Company on a per-engagement basis for the relevant scope of work. The Company coordinates these engagements, reviews the resulting reports for completeness, and communicates results to the Client; it does not itself perform the physical inspection, laboratory analysis, or certification decision.
The identity of the specific provider engaged for a given service is confirmed to the Client as part of that engagement. The Company does not represent that any named firm is a standing exclusive partner unless a current, signed commercial agreement with that firm is in place and disclosed to the Client for that engagement.
5. No Guarantee of Outcome; Limitation of Liability
The Company provides a professional service and, where applicable, a report reflecting the findings of an independent third-party provider at the time and place of the relevant inspection, test, audit, or document review. The Company does not guarantee:
- the quality, safety, compliance, or fitness for purpose of any goods;
- the outcome of any audit, inspection, laboratory test, or certification process; or
- the performance, solvency, reliability, or future conduct of any buyer or supplier, whether or not that buyer or supplier has engaged the Company’s services.
A supplier that pays for and undergoes a verification audit, factory audit, or certification process may still fail that audit, inspection, or certification. Results are independent and evidence-based; the Company does not influence or guarantee a favorable outcome, and payment for a Service is payment for the professional work of conducting and coordinating the assessment — not payment for a particular result.
Reports and findings reflect conditions observed at the specific time and place of assessment. They are not an ongoing warranty and do not certify that conditions will remain the same at any later date, including at the time of a subsequent shipment.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Company’s total liability arising out of or in connection with a given engagement is limited to the fixed fee actually paid by the Client for that specific engagement. This is a proportionate limitation tied to the value of the service delivered; it does not exclude liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or gross negligence, or liability that cannot be limited under mandatory provisions of UAE law.
The Company is not liable for any indirect, consequential, or lost-profit losses arising from a buyer-supplier transaction, including losses arising from a supplier’s failure to perform, a buyer’s failure to pay, or any dispute between buyer and supplier, since the Company is not a party to that transaction.
6. Independence and Evidence-Based Reporting
The Company’s verification, inspection-coordination, and audit-preparation services are evidence-based. The Company does not issue “Verified,” “Guaranteed,” or “Certified” status, and does not authorize the Platform to display such status for any supplier, without an underlying assessment actually having been carried out by a qualified party. Any badge, status, or claim referencing verification or certification reflects the result of a real, documented assessment on file, and is subject to review or removal if the underlying evidence changes or is found to be inaccurate.
7. Confidentiality and Data
The Company will treat a Client’s sourcing brief, product specifications, target pricing, business information, and other materials shared for the purpose of delivering a Service as confidential, and will not share such information beyond what is reasonably required to deliver that Service (for example, sharing a buyer’s specification with a candidate supplier as part of a Sourcing Desk engagement, with the buyer’s knowledge).
Personal data collected in connection with a Service (such as a Client’s name, company details, and contact information) is processed under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data, and, where the Client is established in or the data subject is located in the European Union, in a manner consistent with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Data is used only to deliver the requested Service, communicate about the engagement, and meet applicable legal and accounting obligations. Full detail on data handling is set out in the Company’s separate Privacy Policy.
8. Client Responsibilities
- Client is responsible for providing accurate information about its requirements, products, and counterparties so that the Company can scope and deliver the Service correctly.
- Client remains responsible for its own commercial decisions, including whether to proceed with a given buyer or supplier, regardless of the content of any report delivered by the Company.
- Client is responsible for complying with all import, export, customs, and destination-market regulatory requirements applicable to its own transactions; the Company’s certification-facilitation and compliance-support Services assist with this but do not transfer that responsibility to the Company.
9. Export-Control & Sanctions Compliance
Altonex Global Trading – F.Z.E provides an information, coordination, and facilitation service only. The Company is never the seller, buyer, exporter, importer, freight forwarder, customs declarant, or otherwise a party to any underlying trade in goods between a Client and any counterparty, and does not take title to, handle, ship, or clear any goods.
The Client is solely and exclusively responsible for identifying, assessing, and complying with all export-control laws, trade sanctions, embargoes, denied-party and restricted-party screening requirements, dual-use classification rules, and any other trade-compliance obligations applicable to its own transactions, products, counterparties, and destination markets, under the laws of the United Arab Emirates and of every other jurisdiction connected to the transaction (including the jurisdictions of origin, transit, and destination).
- The Company does not perform denied-party, sanctions-list, or export-licensing screening on behalf of the Client and does not warrant that any product, counterparty, or destination is lawful to trade with.
- The Client warrants that it will not use the Company’s services in connection with any transaction that would violate applicable export-control or sanctions laws, and will not request the Company to facilitate trade with any sanctioned party, sanctioned country, or restricted end-use.
- The Company reserves the right to decline, suspend, or terminate any engagement, without liability, where it reasonably suspects a sanctions, export-control, or other legal-compliance concern.
- The Client shall indemnify and hold the Company harmless against any claim, penalty, fine, or loss arising from the Client’s breach of this clause, to the extent permitted by applicable UAE law.
10. Force Majeure
Neither party is liable for any failure or delay in performance to the extent caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, natural disaster, war, terrorism, civil unrest, government action or restriction, port or border closures, epidemic or pandemic, strikes or labour disputes not involving the affected party’s own workforce, telecommunications or internet failure, or failure of a third-party accredited body engaged under Section 4 to perform for reasons outside the Company’s control.
- The affected party shall notify the other party without undue delay upon becoming aware of the force majeure event and shall use reasonable efforts to mitigate its effect.
- If a force majeure event continues for more than thirty (30) days, either party may terminate the affected engagement by written notice, subject to Section 14 (Termination of an Engagement) on treatment of fees for undelivered work.
11. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is held by a competent court or arbitral tribunal to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable under applicable law, that provision shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, or if it cannot be so modified, shall be severed from these Terms. The remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect, and the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision.
12. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
These Terms, and any engagement entered into under them, are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Arab Emirates, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
The parties shall first attempt to resolve any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or any engagement through good-faith discussion between senior representatives of each party, for a period of not less than thirty (30) days from the date one party notifies the other in writing of the dispute.
If the dispute is not resolved through good-faith discussion within that period, it shall be finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) in accordance with the DIAC Arbitration Rules in force at the time the arbitration is commenced:
- Seat of arbitration: United Arab Emirates.
- Number of arbitrators: one (1).
- Language of arbitration: English.
- The arbitral award shall be final and binding on the parties, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
- Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent interim or injunctive relief from a competent court where necessary to preserve its rights pending the outcome of arbitration.
13. Notices
Any notice required or permitted under these Terms shall be in writing and delivered by email to the address the Client provided at engagement, or to the Company at info@altonexglobal.com, with a copy by any other reasonable written means where the matter is material (including termination, dispute, or force majeure notices). A notice is deemed received on the date of transmission if sent during the recipient’s normal business hours, or on the next business day otherwise.
14. Termination of an Engagement
Either party may terminate a specific service engagement by written notice if the other party is in material breach of these Terms or of the engagement scope and, where the breach is capable of remedy, fails to remedy it within fourteen (14) days of being notified in writing. The Company may also terminate or decline an engagement immediately and without liability in the circumstances described in Section 9 (Export-Control & Sanctions Compliance) or where the Client fails to pay fees when due.
- On termination, the Client remains liable for fees for all work already performed and for any non-cancellable third-party costs already committed under Section 4 (Third-Party Accredited Providers) up to the date of termination.
- Fees paid in advance for work not yet performed as of the termination date shall be refunded to the Client, less any non-cancellable third-party costs already committed on the Client’s behalf.
- Termination of an engagement does not by itself terminate these Terms as they apply to any other current or future engagement between the parties.
15. Intellectual Property in Deliverables
Unless otherwise agreed in writing for a specific engagement, reports, certificates, and other deliverables prepared by the Company or by a third-party accredited body under Section 4 are licensed to the Client for the Client’s own internal business and trade-compliance purposes upon full payment of the applicable fee. The Company and, where applicable, the relevant third-party accredited body retain ownership of the underlying report templates, methodologies, and any pre-existing intellectual property used to produce the deliverable.
- The Client may share a deliverable with its own counterparties, financiers, or regulators as reasonably necessary for its trade transaction, provided the deliverable is not altered and its source is not misrepresented.
- Any accreditation marks, logos, or certification marks belonging to a third-party accredited body remain that body’s property and may only be used in accordance with that body’s own rules.
16. Assignment & Subcontracting
The Client may not assign or transfer its rights or obligations under these Terms or any engagement without the Company’s prior written consent. The Company may engage internationally accredited third-party bodies to perform inspection, testing, certification, or other technical work described in Section 4 without such engagement constituting an assignment of the Company’s obligations, provided the Company remains responsible for coordinating the engagement as described in these Terms. The Company may also assign these Terms in connection with a merger, reorganisation, or transfer of substantially all of its relevant business assets, on written notice to the Client.
17. Entire Agreement & Order of Precedence
These Terms, together with any signed engagement letter, service order, or scope confirmation issued for a specific engagement, constitute the entire agreement between the Client and Altonex Global Trading – F.Z.E in relation to the services described, and supersede any prior discussions, proposals, or understandings on the same subject matter. These Terms govern Layer 2 company trade services only and are separate from the Altonex Global platform terms of use, which govern use of the discovery and RFQ platform itself.
If there is any conflict between these Terms and a signed engagement letter or service order for a specific engagement, the signed engagement letter or service order shall prevail for that engagement only, to the extent of the conflict.
18. Governing Language
These Terms are issued in English. Where these Terms, or any related notice, report, or communication, are translated into any other language for convenience, the English-language version shall govern in the event of any inconsistency, ambiguity, or conflict between versions.
19. How to Engage
To request a Service, contact the Company with a description of your requirement (buyer-side verification, inspection, testing, sourcing, or import-compliance support; or supplier-side certification, audit coordination, verification preparation, or marketing/content support). The Company will review the request, propose a scope of work, and issue a written quotation before any fee is payable. No payment is required to submit an initial request.
20. Changes to These Terms
The Company may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in its services or applicable law. The version of these Terms in force at the time a written quotation is issued and accepted governs that specific engagement, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
Where any translation of this page conflicts with the English version, the English version governs (see Section 18).