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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Other commercial matters - Carriage of goods - Rights of carriers

290: Disposal of perishable goods

You could also call this:

“When goods can go bad, you can sell or throw them away”

If you’re carrying goods that can spoil, and they start to go bad and might smell, you can do something about it. This applies even if you’re just holding the goods for a while.

You can try to sell the goods to get the best price. If you can’t sell them, you can throw them away or get rid of them in another way. You can do this even if other rules say you shouldn’t.

If you sell the goods, you can take some money from what you get. You can take the money you were supposed to get for carrying the goods. You can also take money for any costs you had while holding the goods and selling them. After that, you need to give any leftover money to the person who was supposed to get the goods.

If you have to throw the goods away or get rid of them another way, you can ask the person who hired you to pay for your costs.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844619.

Topics:
Business > Fair trading Business > Industry rules Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
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289: Storage and disposal of unclaimed or rejected goods, or

"Rules for storing and selling goods when people don't collect them"

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291: Disposal of dangerous goods, or

"What to do if goods become dangerous during transport"

Part 5 Other commercial matters
Carriage of goods: Rights of carriers

290Disposal of perishable goods

  1. This section applies if, at any time while any perishable goods are subject to a contract of carriage (including any time while the goods are held under sections 285 to 289), the goods appear to be deteriorating and likely to become offensive.

  2. The carrier may—

  3. sell the goods to the best advantage; or
    1. if sale is not reasonably practicable, destroy or otherwise dispose of the goods.

      1. Subsection (2) applies despite any of the other provisions of this subpart.

      2. If the goods are sold, the carrier—

      3. may deduct from the proceeds of sale—
        1. the amount of freight or other consideration owing to the carrier in respect of the carriage of the goods; and
          1. all expenses reasonably incurred by the carrier in holding the goods and in arranging and conducting the sale; and
          2. must pay the balance (if any) to the consignee.

            1. If the goods are destroyed or otherwise disposed of, the expenses reasonably incurred by the carrier are recoverable by the carrier as a debt due from the contracting party.

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