Terms and Conditions - Applicable as of November 16th, 2020

The BIC Facility Code Database (“the Database”) is a database created by the Bureau International des Containers et du Transport Intermodal (the “BIC”), an association subject to the law dated 1 July 1901, to collect information about the container depots, container yards, maintenance and repair vendors, container freight stations and other and container facilities (“Facilities”) across the world and assign to each facility a unique identifier composed of 9 characters: 5 characters based on UN/LOCODE to designate the country and city of the facility and 4 characters to designate the specific facility. The Database is populated by voluntary contribution by the main actors of the industry, such as owners and operators of ships, containers or facilities and is managed by the BIC. It includes data concerning the Facilities such as address, GPS coordinates, and Geo-features (the “Data”).

Any individual or legal entity (the “User”) can access the Database through the Internet through the following url: www.bic-code.org and upload Data on it, following acceptance of BIC’s terms and conditions.

In order to allow easier access to the Database, the BIC has created an Application Programming Interface which allows interactions between the Users’ IT systems and the Database (the “API”).

The purpose of these terms and conditions (the “T&Cs”) is to define the terms under which this API is licensed to Users. The BIC reserves the right to modify these T&Cs at any time. The modified T&Cs shall become applicable to the User upon their acceptance. BIC reserves the right to deny the use of its API to any User who would not accept its modified T&Cs.

1. LICENSE OVER THE API

BIC grants to the User, following its acceptance of these T&Cs, a world-wide, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence, without any right to sub-license, to use the API, for the duration of the Agreement and solely for its internal business purposes, for the duration of the intellectual property rights protecting the API. This license is granted for free and the BIC may terminate it at any time, at its discretion.

Users may only use the API to extract Facility Codes and related information concerning Facilities from the Data base. The BIC reserves the right to limit the number and type of allowable queries per user and per day to ensure system stability. BIC shall indicate such limitations to Users, upon their request. Users who wish to make queries exceeding the limits set by BIC shall contact BIC to make suitable arrangements.

BIC may authorise some Users to use the API to upload Data onto the DataBase. Such authorisation shall be subject to a separate agreement.

2. LIMITATIONS

The User shall not and, as the case may be, shall ensure that its end-users will not:

  • sublicense, resell, lease, or rent the API (or any part thereof) or any other associated products and services to any third party;
  • use the API (or any part thereof) to develop a product line that is similar to the Database or the API
  • use or copy the API (or any part thereof) except as expressly allowed under these T&Cs or
  • alter, distort, or remove any confidential, proprietary, copyright, trademark, trade secret, or patent legends from any copy of the API (or any part thereof).

3. RIGHTS RESERVED

Title, ownership rights, and all intellectual property rights in and to the API and the Database will remain the sole property of the BIC. The User acknowledges that the API in source code form remains confidential information or a trade secret of the BIC and/or its suppliers, that the source code is not covered by any licence hereunder and will not be provided by the BIC. Except as set forth in these T&Cs, no right or implied licence or right of any kind is granted to the User, regarding the API or any part thereof.

4. ABSENCE OF WARRANTIES

OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN THESE T&CS, THE BIC DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, OR REPRESENTATIONS TO THE USER, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY WITH RESPECT TO THE API OR OTHERWISE REGARDING THESE T&CS, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY AGAINST INFRINGEMENT, AND THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE BIC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE OPERATION OF THE API WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE API WILL BE COMPATIBLE OR WILL EVOLVE ALONG WITH THE USER’S IT SYSTEM.

5. ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

The BIC and the User agree (i) to maintain and update an industry standard anti-virus program within their respective computer systems and (ii) to use commercially reasonable efforts to check attachments to e-mail messages or any other files that a party receives before saving such attachments to their respective organization’s hard drives or servers.

The User authorised to access the Database through the API shall be fully responsible for any damage caused to the Database or the BIC’s IT system because of any viruses, Trojan horse, logical bomb, worm or any other code or instruction affecting a program, software, data, file, database, computer or other equipment or element of the BIC because of the connexion between the BIC’s IT systems and the User’s IT Systems through the API.

6. RESPONSIBILITY

The BIC shall incur no liability whatsoever with respect to:

  • the nature, accuracy, completeness or legality of the Data downloaded by the User through the API,
  • other Facility information downloaded by Users, including information made possible in future Database releases, through the API
  • the use by Users or any third parties of the Data, and the

In any case, the BIC’s liability towards a User may not exceed one thousand euros (€ 1,000).

The BIC shall not incur any liability for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect, exemplary, or punitive damages or liabilities for any cause whatsoever arising out of or relating to the Agreement, nor for any damages for lost profit, lost revenue, loss of use, loss of goodwill, loss of reputation, loss of data, regulatory fines, costs of recreating lost data, the cost of any substitute equipment, software program, or data, regardless of whether the possibility of such damages or liabilities was communicated to the BIC and regardless of whether the BIC had or gained knowledge of the existence of such damages or liabilities.

7. LANGUAGE

The French version of the T&Cs shall prevail over any other version.

8. APPLICABLE LAW

The execution, interpretation, performance, termination or cancellation of the Agreement shall be subject to French law.

9. JURISDICTION

Any dispute related to the Agreement, and especially its execution, its interpretation, its performance and its termination or cancellation and their consequences, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tribunal de Commerce or in case of exclusive jurisdiction, the Tribunal Judiciaire having jurisdiction over the BIC’s registered office, in case the User is not a French national or an entity with its registered office in France.