合同中索赔与罚金条款实务

买卖双方为了在索赔和理赔时有所依据，一般在合同中订立索赔条款。在实践中，索赔条款可根据不同的需要作不同的规定，通常采用“异议与索赔条款”和“罚金条款”两种。

（一）异议与索赔条款

异议与索赔条款（Discrepancy and Claim Clause）一般是针对卖方交货质量、数量或包装不符合同规定而订立的。在异议与索赔条款中，应规定索赔依据、索赔期限、索赔的办法或金额等内容。例如：

买方对于装运货物的任何索赔，必须于货物到达提单及/或运输单据所订目的港（地）之日起××天内提出，并须提供卖方同意的公证机构出具的检验报告。属于保险公司、轮船公司或其他有关运输机构责任范围内的索赔，卖方不予受理。

Any claim by the Buyer regarding the goods shipped should be filed within … days after the arrival of the goods at the port/place of destination specified in the relative Bill of Lading and/or transport document and supported by a survey report issued by a surveyor approved by the Seller.Claims in respect of matters within responsibility of insurance company，shipping company/other transportation organization will not be considered or entertained by the Seller.

这一条款中所规定的买方索赔期限，也就是检验条款中的买方对货物进行复验的有效期限。由于检验条款与索赔条款有密切联系，有的合同将这两种条款结合起来订立，称为“检验与索赔条款”（Inspection ＆ Claim Clause）。

（二）罚金条款(www.xing528.com)

罚金条款（Penalty Clause），也称违约金条款，是针对当事人不按期履约而订立的，较多使用于卖方延期交货或买方延期接货或延期付款时。其特点是在合同中规定罚金的数额或罚金的百分率。

例3：（卖方延期交货的罚金条款）如卖方不能按合同规定的时间交货，在卖方同意由付款银行在议付货款中扣除罚金或由买方于支付货款时直接扣除罚金的条件下，买方应同意延期交货。罚金率按每7天收取延期交货部分总值的0.5％，不足7天者以7天计算。但罚金不得超过延期交货部分总金额的5％。如果卖方延期交货超过合同规定期限10周时，买方有权撤销合同，但卖方仍应不延迟地按上述规定向买方支付罚金。

Should the Sellers fail to make delivery on time as stipulated in the contract，the Buyers shall agree to postpone the delivery on the condition that the Sellers agree to pay a penalty which shall be deducted by the paying bank from the payment under negotiation，or by the Buyers detect at the time of payment.The rate of penalty is charged at 0.5％ of the total value of the goods whose delivery has been delayed for every seven days，odd days less than seven days should be counted as seven days.But the total amount of penalty，however，shall not exceed 5％ of the total value of the goods involved in the late delivery.In case the Sellers fail to make delivery ten weeks later than the time of shipment stipulated in the contract，the Buyers shall have the right to cancel the contract and the Sellers，in spite of the cancellation，shall still pay the aforesaid penalty to the Buyers without delay.

例 4：（买方延期开立信用证的罚金条款）买方因自身原因不能按合同规定的时间开立信用证，应向卖方支付罚金。罚金按迟开证每××天收取信用证金额的××％，不足××天者按××天计算，但罚金不超过买方应开信用证金额的××％。该罚金仅作为迟开信用证引起的损失赔偿。

Should the Buyers for its own sake fail to open the letter of credit on timen stipulated in the contract，the Buyers shall pay a penalty to the Sellers.The penalty shall be charged at the rate of …％ of the amount of the Letter of Credit for every … days of delay in opening the Letter of Credit，however，the penalty shall not exceed …％ of the total value of the Letter of Credit which the Buyers should have opened.Any fractional days less than … days shall be deemed to be … days for the calculation of penalty.The penalty shall be the sole compensation for the damage caused by such delay.

案例8-2：国外某进口商以FOB价向我国某厂订购一批货物，在买卖合同中定明若工厂未能于7月底之前装运，则工厂应赔付货款的5％作为违约金。后工厂装运延迟5天，以致被买方索赔货款的3％。在这种情况下，国外进口商是否可向工厂索赔，索赔额按5％还是3％计算？