Resolving Primary Sub-Tier Mill Certificate Disputes under PRC Civil Code Article 620
PRC Civil Code Article 620 bars latent raw material claims unless buyers execute incoming chemical verification and serve formal notice within agreed windows.
PRC Civil Code Article 621
Meaning
Statutory provisions of Chinese contract law establish the specific deadlines within which a buyer must inspect delivered goods and notify the seller of any quality defects. Under PRC Civil Code Article 621, failure to notify the seller within the agreed inspection period, or within a reasonable time if no period is specified, means the goods are deemed accepted. This law sets a hard ceiling of two years from the delivery date for notifying defects.
Inspection Deadline
The rule requires the purchasing party to act promptly once the shipment arrives. If the buyer fails to perform the inspection within the contractually specified window, they lose the right to claim damages under PRC Civil Code Article 621. This loss of right is absolute.
Contractual Modification
Foreign companies sourcing from China must negotiate longer inspection periods directly in the purchase contract to bypass the default reasonable time standard. This precaution prevents the automatic expiry of rights under PRC Civil Code Article 621 before laboratory testing is complete.
Judicial Application
During court proceedings, judges use statutory deadlines to dismiss claims from buyers who waited too long to report defects, even if the goods are proven to be substandard. To avoid this outcome, the buyer must show they complied with PRC Civil Code Article 621 by producing written evidence of a notification sent to the seller within the allowed period. This makes the material non-conformance notice and the delivery receipt the most important documents in the lawsuit.
Importers must therefore ensure that their quality control teams perform all required tests and send formal notices immediately upon discovering a defect.