Unless otherwise agreed in writing all offers or services provided by the Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE) shall be governed by these General Terms and Conditions.

These Terms and the Proposal constitute the entire agreement between the Client and Halal Food Council of Europe with respect to the subject matter. No variation to the Contract shall be valid unless it is in writing and signed by the Client and Halal Food Council of Europe.

Where a Certificate is issued to the Client, Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE) will provide the Services using reasonable care and skill.

No certification is to be provided where there is the possibility of financial self-interest. Halal Food Council of Europe will not certify the management systems of shareholders or of clients where an Halal Food Council of Europe employee has a direct family member working at a senior management level.

Following your enquiry you will be requested to supply Halal Food Council of Europe with appropriate information. From this information you will be provided with a written quotation for Halal Food Council of Europe services, specifying the duration and cost involved.

To enable Halal Food Council of Europe to establish confidence that your management system(s) meet the requirements of this agreement and the specified standard, we require you to:

• Allow Halal Food Council of Europe full access to all work areas, personnel, records and documentation relevant to your application.
• Demonstrate compliance to the specified standard, to Halal Food Council of Europe satisfaction.
• Nominate a management representative and advise Halal Food Council of Europe of this nomination.

If Halal Food Council of Europe is not satisfied that compliance can be adequately demonstrated during the initial assessment, it may be necessary to undertake further special visits. Should this be the case, they will be arranged in advance and a written quotation provided.

Following a satisfactory visit and submission of an adequate corrective action response (where necessary) an independent review of the initial assessment report will be conducted. If satisfactory Halal Food Council of Europe shall then grant certification. As evidence of certification you will receive a Halal Food Council of Europe signed certificate, valid for 1 year, detailing the scope of assessed activities and location.

Continuation appendices may support this; Halal Food Council of Europe may at any time refuse certification or revoke, suspend or terminate certification where, in Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE) reasonable opinion, compliance with the specified standard or this agreement has not been met.

The Client shall adhere to the Halal Food Council of Europe branding guidelines on completion of their initial assessment. The branding guidelines will be sent to the client and on receipt of the confirmation email, the Halal Food Council of Europe logos sent to the Client.

It is a condition of this agreement that you advise Halal Food Council of Europe in writing, if at any time you no longer comply with this agreement or the specified management standard, or make significant changes to your management system. You should advise your designated Halal Food Council of Europe contact.

Halal Food Council of Europe shall make regular visits to your premises to ascertain the continuing effectiveness of your management system. The duration and frequency shall be at the reasonable discretion of Halal Food Council of Europe

At the end of the year following initial certification and surveillance cycles, your System will be due for certification renewal.

It is a condition of this agreement that you inform Halal Food Council of Europe of any substantive changes that take place or are planned to take place in or to your structure, strategy, management or culture (a “change”) which could affect your certificate

Without limitation, a Change may include any merges, acquisitions, takeovers, new brand using existing people, cases of significant growth or reduction in employee numbers and changes in name or ownership. You must inform Halal Food Council of Europe prior to the Change taking place or, if this is not possible, as soon as is reasonably practicable following the Change.

Halal Food Council of Europe reserves the right to investigate the nature of any Change and its impact on your certification. Wherever possible, this investigation shall be timed to take place with a routine assessment of your certification. There may be a requirement to re-quote in line with the new changes and you will be notified of this prior to the assessment taking place.

Following an unsuccessful assessment or surveillance of an organisation's management system, the certificate of registration may be suspended or withdrawn as follows:

• As a result of continued misuse of Registered Company Certification Marks.
• Failure to apply corrective action as a result of non-conformances found at an assessment or surveillance within the relevant timescale.
• Any other breach of Halal Food Council of Europe Certification Terms and Conditions.
• Should the client organisation wish to appeal against the suspension or withdrawal of certification the Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE) operates an appeals procedure see clause 18.

It is a requirement of all Product Conformity schemes that you advise Halal Food Council of Europe in writing of any knowledge of non-conforming products/services.

The Client shall pay the fees of Halal Food Council of Europe prior to the arranged assessments.

• Fees and payment structure (full or stage) will be agreed in advance with the Client
• Fees will be exclusive of but subject to VAT and expenses.
• We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue invoices from the date when payment is due until the date payment is made at 4% above the Central Bank of Belgium official dealing rate.

If the proposed Services are cancelled or postponed at short notice by the Client, Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE) reserves the right to charge the Client a cancellation Fee based on the estimated costs of the service.

The cancellation fee may not apply in the following exceptional circumstances:

• The announcement of major redundancies
• The announcement of a takeover/buy out
• Exceptional personal circumstances

Subject to payment of the fees to Halal Food Council of Europe, this agreement will terminate automatically upon delivery of the requested Services.

Halal Food Council of Europe shall not be required to fulfil its duties and obligations under this agreement if Halal Food Council of Europe is prevented from fulfilling its duties and obligations by any acts or omissions of the Client.

The certificate and the right to use the logo shall remain the property of Halal Food Council of Europe and you agree not to assign, charge, licence, transfer or otherwise deal with it in any way.

The Client is responsible for ensuring that when Halal Food Council of Europe visits your site Halal Food Council of Europe has adequate protective equipment for the working environment to be assessed. Where specialist training is required this shall be disclosed to Halal Food Council of Europe at the outset.

Please raise these issues with your Halal Food Council of Europe contact in advance of a visit.

Financial Liability of Halal Food Council of Europe (including liability for the acts or omissions of its employees and contracted staff) to the Client in respect of:

• Any breach of this agreement
• Any use made by the Client of the services; and
• Any representation, statement or act or omission (including negligence arising under or in connection of this agreement)

All warranties and conditions and other terms implied by statute or common law, are to the fullest extent permitted by law, excluded by this agreement.

The Client acknowledges and accepts that where services are required to change to comply with UKAS guidelines or any other legal requirements, Halal Food Council of Europe shall not be liable for breach under this Agreement.

Nothing in this agreement limits or excludes the liability of Halal Food Council of Europe for:

• Death or personal injury resulting from negligence; or
• Any damage or liability incurred by the Client as a result of fraud, or fraudulent misinterpretation by Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE).

Halal Food Council of Europe shall not be liable for:

• Loss of profit;
• Loss of business;
• Depletion of goodwill and/or similar losses;
• Loss of contract
• Loss of corruption of data or information or
• Any special indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses;

Halal Food Council of Europe‘s total liability in contract, (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), misinterpretation, restitution, or otherwise arising in connection with the performance of this agreement shall be limited to the Services Fee.

Halal Food Council of Europe, its employees and contracted staff shall keep confidential all information relating to your business and shall not disclose that information to any third party.

Halal Food Council of Europe, its employees and contracted staff have signed individual confidentiality agreements and will only receive confidential information on a need to know basis. This confidentiality agreement shall continue for a period of not less than 10 years after termination of this agreement.

You shall keep confidential all information relating to the commercial and intellectual property of Halal Food Council of Europe and shall not disclose this to any third party.

These restrictions shall not apply to any information in the public domain or which Halal Food Council of Europe is required by law or relevant accreditation bodies to disclose.

If either party is affected by Force Majeure it shall promptly notify the other party of the nature and extent of the circumstance in question.

Neither party shall be deemed to be in breach of this agreement, or otherwise be liable to the other, for any delay in performance or the non-performance of any of its obligations under this Agreement to the extent that the delay or non-performance is due to any Force Majeure of which it has notified the other party, and the time for performance of that obligation shall be extended accordingly.

If Halal Food Council of Europe receives a complaint about your organisation, within the scope of your certification, which proves on investigation to be well founded, Halal Food Council of Europe will require immediate action within a specified time. Failure to take adequate action may lead to withdrawal or suspension of certification. A special visit may also be required to resolve the issue, which shall be charged to you.

If you have cause to complain about the provision of Halal Food Council of Europe service, the complaint should be made to the Technical Manager

We aim to work with you to resolve any complaints raised, however in the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with our response you may register an appeal (see our website for Client Charter). The appeal MUST be submitted in writing either via letter to the headquarters or via email on: halal@hfce.eu

The Parties each warrant to the other that they have and will maintain all necessary data protection notifications and, in providing the other or third parties with information under the terms of this Contract, they will not be in breach of any security arrangements or in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 and all subordinate legislation under that Act, including all applicable data protection principles.

In order to maintain the integrity of Halal Food Council of Europe (HFCE) service, you agree not to make any misleading statements concerning your application or certification to any third party and will use your best endeavours to ensure that no-one connected with you gives misleading information.

This contract constitutes the whole agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous agreements between the parties relating to its subject manner.

Each Party acknowledges that in entering into this contract it has not relied upon any representation, inducement promise or agreement, whether oral, written or otherwise made by or on behalf of the other Party and which has not been incorporated within or specifically referred to in this Contract, and that no other agreement, statement or promise not contained in this Contract shall be valid or binding.

This Contract shall be governed and construed in accordance with the Laws of Belgium. The Parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and procedure of the Belgian Courts.

Any notice to be given under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given if left at or sent by first class post, registered post or facsimile or other electronic media to a party at the address or relevant telecommunication number for such party or such other address as the party may from time to time designate by written notice to the other.

Any notice or other document shall be deemed to have been received by the addressee two working days following the date of despatch of the notice or other document by post or, where the notice or other document is sent by hand or is given by facsimile or other electronic media simultaneously with the delivery or transmission.