SKOFFgroup International GmbH​

Leitringer Hauptstraße 78b, 8435 Leitring, Austria

Commercial Register No.: FN 367281 w (Regional Court for CVR Graz) | VAT ID: ATU66646329

E-Mail: office@skoffgroup.com | Web: www.skoffgroup.com

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§ 1 Scope of Application and B2B/B2C Differentiation

1. These General Terms and Conditions of Sale (GTC) apply to all current and future deliveries, services, laboratory analyses, and consulting offers provided by SKOFFgroup International GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "Seller") to business clients within the meaning of § 1 of the Austrian Commercial Code (UGB) as well as consumers within the meaning of the Austrian Consumer Protection Act (KSchG) (hereinafter referred to as "Buyer" or "Customer").

2. Deviating, conflicting, or supplementary terms and conditions of the Buyer shall only become part of the contract if the Seller has expressly agreed to their validity in writing.

3. Mandatory statutory provisions of Austrian consumer protection law (in particular KSchG and FAGG) shall apply to consumers unless a permissible special agreement is explicitly made hereinafter.

 

§ 2 Offers and Formation of Contract

1. All offers made by the Seller are non-binding and subject to change unless explicitly marked as binding.

2. Orders placed by the Buyer constitute a binding offer to contract. A contract shall only come into effect upon written order confirmation by the Seller or upon direct execution of the delivery or service.

 

§ 3 Prices and Price Adjustments

1. All prices quoted by the Seller are without exception net prices in Euros (€), excluding applicable statutory Value Added Tax (VAT) as well as any packaging, transport, freight, and customs costs, unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing. Statutory VAT will be calculated and added separately in accordance with applicable tax laws.

2. Freight and Price Adjustment Clause (B2B): If a significant, unforeseeable increase in freight costs, toll fees, customs duties, raw material prices, or energy costs occurs between contract conclusion and delivery, the Seller reserves the right to adjust prices for business clients accordingly, provided that more than 4 weeks elapse between contract conclusion and delivery.

 

§ 4 Delivery, Transport Damage, Passing of Risk, and Default of Acceptance

1. Place of Performance: The place of performance for all obligations shall be the registered seat of the Seller in 8435 Leitring, Austria.

2. Passing of Risk: When goods are shipped to business clients, the risk of accidental loss and deterioration passes to the Buyer upon handover to the carrier (EXW pursuant to Incoterms). For consumers, risk passes only upon delivery to the consumer.

3. Notification of Transport Damage (24-Hour Notice): Externally visible transport damage, packaging damage, or missing quantities must be recorded by the Buyer on the carrier’s delivery note immediately upon receipt. Furthermore, business clients (B2B) are obligated to notify the Seller of such apparent transport damage in writing (including photo documentation) without delay, at the latest within 24 hours of receipt of the goods. Hidden transport damage must be reported in writing within 5 working days.

4. Default of Acceptance & Storage Fees: If the Buyer defaults on acceptance, risk passes to the Buyer. The Seller is entitled to charge flat-rate storage fees amounting to 0.5% of the invoice amount per commenced week of delay.

5. Transport Insurance: Transport insurance shall only be concluded at the explicit written request and expense of the Buyer.

 

§ 5 Application Technique, Organic/Bio Usage, and User Responsibility

1. Proper Application: The correct and professional application, dosage, and processing of all delivered products (e.g., treatment agents, yeasts, enzymes) fall exclusively within the area of use and responsibility of the Buyer or user.

2. Self-Responsibility for Specific Certifications & Quality Standards: If the delivered goods are used for products subject to special certification, quality, or labelling requirements (in particular Organic/Bio, Vegan, Demeter, Biodynamic, or Kosher certifications, as well as other product-specific association or declaration standards), the Buyer is obligated to independently verify the permissibility, regulatory compliance, and suitability of the products for the specific intended purpose prior to use. Due to varying or changing statutory, association-specific, or international regulations, the Seller assumes no liability for compliance with specific certification or quality seal standards.

3. Duty of Inspection Prior to Processing: The Buyer is required to independently test the delivered goods via preliminary trial runs (e.g., small-scale laboratory trials) prior to full application.

 

§ 6 Retention of Title (Expanded & Extended)

1. Delivered goods shall remain the property of the Seller until full payment of all claims arising from the business relationship.

2. Business clients are authorized to resell reserved goods in the ordinary course of business and hereby assign all resulting claims to the Seller.

3. In the event of breach of contract by the Buyer—in particular late payment—the Seller shall be entitled to repossess the reserved goods after setting a reasonable grace period.

 

§ 7 Late Payment, Default Interest, Reminder Fees, and Credit Rating

1. Invoices are due for payment without deduction within the specified payment term. The Buyer shall automatically be in default if the invoice amount is not credited within the payment term.

2. Default Interest: In the event of late payment, the Seller is entitled to charge business clients (B2B) statutory default interest pursuant to § 456 UGB at a rate of 9.2 percentage points per annum above the base rate of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) (calculated on a daily basis from the exact due date). For consumers (B2C), the statutory interest rate of 4.0% p.a. pursuant to § 1000 ABGB shall apply.

3. Administrative Reminder Fees: To cover administrative efforts in collection, the Seller charges flat-rate reminder fees per dunning stage as follows:

   • 1st Warning (Stage 2): € 5.00

   • 2nd Warning (Stage 3): € 10.00

   • Final Warning / Collection Notice (Stage 4): € 20.00

4. Collection Costs: The Buyer agrees to reimburse the Seller for all necessary out-of-court collection costs.

5. Credit Deterioration & Advance Payment: If the Buyer's creditworthiness deteriorates significantly, the Seller shall be entitled to execute outstanding deliveries only against advance payment.

 

§ 8 Set-Off and Retention Restrictions

1. Offsetting counterclaims by business clients against claims of the Seller is excluded unless the counterclaim is undisputed or legally established by a court of law.

2. For consumers, set-off restrictions apply only within the scope permitted by § 6 (1) No. 8 KSchG.

 

§ 9 Warranty and Notice of Defects

1. Business clients are subject to the commercial duty of inspection under § 377 UGB: Defects must be reported in writing without delay, at the latest within 5 business days (unless transport damage under § 4 (3) applies).

2. Statutory warranty periods apply to consumers.

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§ 10 Force Majeure

Events of force majeure, labor disputes, operational disruptions, raw material shortages, or official measures shall release the Seller from performance obligations for the duration of the disturbance.

 

§ 11 Intellectual Property and Technical Documents

The Seller retains all property rights and copyrights to all illustrations, drawings, data sheets, specifications, and documents provided.

 

§ 12 Design Approvals, Custom Production, Packaging, and Order Confirmations

1. Scope: This section applies to all orders involving barrels (including wood type, toast levels, sizes, logo brandings), labels, boxes/packaging, corks, screwcaps and all non-standard products.

2. Duty of Inspection & Approval: The Buyer is obligated to review proof copies, design previews, and order confirmations immediately upon receipt. Upon approval, the risk for any unnotified errors passes entirely to the Buyer.

3. Deemed Approval: With respect to business clients (B2B): If the Buyer fails to respond to an order confirmation, proof copy, or design preview sent by the Seller within 2 business days (48 hours on business days) of receipt, the order confirmation or proof copy shall be deemed fully approved and released by the Buyer in all details. With respect to consumers (B2C), deemed approval shall only apply if the consumer is explicitly informed of the specific legal consequence of silence at the start of the response period (§ 6 (1) No. 2 KSchG).

 

§ 13 Limitation of Liability

The Seller's liability for light negligence, consequential damages, lost profits, or production downtime is excluded to the extent permitted by law. For business clients, liability is further limited to the invoice value of the delivery causing the damage.

 

§ 14 Laboratory Analyses, Wine Tastings, and Consulting Services

1. Exclusion of Liability for Laboratory Values: All laboratory tests and analysis values provided by the Seller are conducted to the best of its knowledge, but without any warranty or guarantee regarding the accuracy, correctness, or completeness of the results. The Seller assumes no liability for cellar treatments, business decisions, or economic consequences made by the Customer based on these values. The Customer explicitly acknowledges that the Seller cannot verify sampling techniques or determine whether any product modifications (e.g., blending) occurred before or after testing.

2. Non-Binding Nature of Tastings and Recommendations: Sensory evaluations, defect diagnoses, dosage suggestions, and product recommendations made during wine tastings or consultations constitute non-binding advice.

3. Mandatory Pre-Testing by the Customer: The Customer is strictly required to independently test any recommendation provided by the Seller via small-scale laboratory pre-tests (e.g., bench trials) prior to applying the treatment to the full wine batch.

4. Exclusion of Consequential Damage: Any liability of the Seller for improper cellar treatments, off-flavors, fermentation faults, or consequential damage arising from the use of lab values or consulting recommendations is strictly excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

 

§ 15 Exclusion of Voluntary Returns

1. General Prohibition of Returns: Apart from justified warranty claims (notices of defects pursuant to § 9), any voluntary return or exchange of delivered goods is strictly excluded. The Buyer has no legal entitlement to return properly delivered goods.

2. Customized Goods & Special Orders: For products manufactured or finished to customer specifications—in particular barrels (including specific wood origins, toast levels, sizes, and logo brandings), labels, boxes/packaging, corks, screwcaps, and non-standard products—any return, cancellation, or refund after the start of production or after approval under § 12 is strictly excluded without exception. For consumers (B2C), the statutory right of withdrawal does not apply to such goods (§ 18 (1) No. 3 FAGG).

3. Oenological & Sensitive Products: For quality assurance and product safety reasons, the return of oenological products, treatment agents, yeasts, enzymes, and nutrients is entirely excluded. Because the Seller cannot verify or guarantee that the Buyer maintained the required storage, temperature, and hygiene conditions after delivery and transfer of risk (§ 4), these products cannot be re-entered into the supply chain.

4. Unapproved Returns: Any goods returned without the Seller's prior express written consent will be rejected and returned at the Buyer's sole expense and risk.

 

§ 16 Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Severability Clause

1. This contractual relationship shall be governed exclusively by the laws of the Republic of Austria, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). For consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as no mandatory statutory provisions of their state of residence are withdrawn.

2. The competent court having jurisdiction over the Seller's registered seat (Regional Court for CVR Graz / District Court Leibnitz) shall have exclusive jurisdiction for all disputes with business clients.

3. Should individual provisions be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected (Severability Clause).

 

Leitring, 1st October 2026

SKOFFgroup International GmbH

These General Terms and Conditions supersede all previous versions.