4. Quality assurance

The Contractor operates a quality assurance system in accordance with the principles of DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 and is accredited in accordance with this standard to the extent documented in the annex to the accreditation certificate. Attention is drawn to possible restrictions on the acceptance of samples in accordance with section 2. of these GTC. The production and marketing of Kylt® invitro diagnostics are certified according to ISO 9001.

5. Sample receipt, acceptance and delivery times

For routine analyses, the analysis procedure begins on the day the sample is received, if the samples are received on working days during regular opening hours and nothing else has been agreed. Samples are accepted using the order system in the LIMS.

The Contractor is not responsible for samples submitted in the client container. Samples are only accepted by the order system in the LIMS after the sample has been taken from the client container by the Contractor. Samples are taken Monday
to Sunday during regular opening hours. 

Depending on the parameters to be determined, the deadline for transmitting the report is 1 to 15 working days. 

Extensive orders or development work have longer delivery times; in these cases the Client will be informed by the Contractor. 

The delivery period for stock-specific vaccines is 6-8 weeks after receipt of the order and isolates. The Client will be informed immediately if difficulties arise with regard to delivery times, e.g. for methodological or technical reasons.

6. Ownership of test material and rights to materials and biological data obtained from it

Any material, e.g. animals and swab samples, provided to the Contractor by the Client for processing shall become the property of the Contractor. This includes pathogens and biological data such as nucleic acid or protein sequences obtained from the materials or pure isolates. The Contractor shall also be entitled in particular to carry out further tests on the material at its own expense and risk and to utilize the knowledge obtained therefrom.

7. Rights of the Contractor; disposal; obligation to inform

The Contractor shall be entitled to use the following knowledge and/or experience directly or indirectly for itself and/or third parties:

Knowledge and experience that the Contractor already possessed when the order was placed; knowledge and experience that the Contractor gained during the execution of the order, but whose gaining was not the subject of the order, as well as calculation procedures, program algorithms and analysis methods that were developed in connection with the execution of the order, insofar as this development was not the direct objective of placing the order. 

The Client shall grant the Contractor accepting all rights of use that may be required for this purpose, unlimited in time and space. 

Swab samples, blood samples, eggs, hygiene (environment) monitoring samples and animal or organ material sent in are generally processed on the day the sample is received and then - unless otherwise agreed - disposed of immediately in compliance with the statutory provisions. If samples containing special risks (e.g. highly infectious, potentially human pathogenic, explosive, highly toxic or radioactive samples) are handed over to the Contractor, the Client must indicate this in writing and clearly label the samples.

8. Use of stock-specific vaccines

When using stock-specific vaccines, the residual risk of incompatibility can never be completely ruled out, in particular due to possible bacterial toxins or adjuvant side effects. Clients who use stock-specific vaccines purchased from the Contractor are therefore obliged, in order to avoid damage, to first test the stock-specific vaccine on a smaller number of animals in order to rule out compatibility problems before deciding on its use in the entire flock managed by the Client or in large numbers of animals.

9. Fees

The Contractor's current price list shall apply. Unless otherwise agreed in individual contracts, the Incoterms® 2020, EXW, Höltinghausen, shall apply to deliveries of goods.

10. Archiving of test results and submitted material

The test results, including the underlying raw data, shall be archived by the Contractor for at least 2 years. Veterinary diagnostic sample material supplied by the Client will no longer be stored by the Contractor after the results have been sent. The storage period for food and feed samples supplied by the Client is 2 weeks, for drinking water samples 2 days, calculated in each case from the day following the dispatch of the results.

11. Confidentiality

The Contractor undertakes to treat data and information from the contractual relationship that is neither generally accessible nor generally known as confidential.

12. Liability

The Contractor shall be liable, subject to its liability under the Product Liability Act, for damages resulting from injury to life, body or health, insofar as these are based on a negligent breach of duty by the Contractor or an intentional or negligent breach of duty by a legal representative or vicarious agent of the Contractor. The Contractor's liability for other damages based on a slightly negligent breach of duty by the Contractor or a slightly negligent breach of duty by a legal representative or vicarious agent of the Contractor shall be limited to 100% of the agreed net remuneration for the associated order. The Contractor shall only be liable for consequential damages, in particular for loss of profit, even in cases of slightly negligent breach of duty and subject to the above provisions, insofar as these are based on a breach of a principal obligation of the Contractor arising from the contractual relationship.

13. Complaints

Complaints by the Client against a test result or a test report should be submitted to the Contractor no later than 1 week after the test report has been handed over. Complaints will be answered in writing. After expiry of the aforementioned deadline, there is no entitlement to a response to the complaints. Complaints about stock-specific vaccines or information about side effects detected after their use as well as complaints about Kylt® in-vitro diagnostics shall be submitted to the Contractor immediately.

14. Payment terms

Invoices are payable within 15 days of issue to the Contractor's account specified on the invoice, unless otherwise agreed.

15. Privacy

The Contractor draws attention to the fact that when an order is placed, data such as the address of the contractual partner will be stored in compliance with data protection regulations, insofar as this is necessary for the execution of the order. As all of the Contractor's receivables are covered by commercial credit insurance, the insurer or the Contractor shall carry out a credit check in this context and store the Client's data. The Client has a right of access to personal data stored for the processing and execution of the order and generated in accordance with the order.

16. Severability

The invalidity of a clause of these GTC shall not affect the validity of the other provisions or the GTC as a whole. An invalid or void provision shall be replaced by a provision that comes closest to the economic purpose of the omitted provision.

17. Place of jurisdiction and applicable law

All legal relationships between the Client and the Contractor shall be governed exclusively by German law without the conflict of law rules of private international law and to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The place of jurisdiction shall be Cloppenburg.

18. Statutory reporting obligations

By submitting sample material, the Client automatically agrees to a possible statutory reporting obligation of the Contractor, as this can be complied with.