Terms and Conditions of Use
Terms and Conditions of Use
ECARF Seal of Quality
For Allergy-Friendly Products and Services
(Date: Oktober 2024)
Preamble
The ECARF Institute GmbH (hereinafter ECARF Institute) has concluded an agreement with the ECARF – European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (hereinafter ECARF Foundation): according to this agreement, the ECARF Institute carries out the certification of the products or services to be tested and makes the word/figurative mark of the ECARF Quality Seal (“the Seal”) available to interested legal persons, institutions and bodies under public and private law for effective public use, provided that they meet certain requirements that qualify them for use.
Usage rights are granted on the basis of the written certification report delivered by the ECARF Institute upon successful certification. Usage rights are granted for a product or service that has been inspected and evaluated, and are limited to the time period specified in this agreement.
The Seal User is qualified to use the Seal in accordance with the above-mentioned criteria and undertakes to adhere to the following provisions as prescribed by the ECARF Institute:
§ 1 Scope of use
Usage rights for the Seal in accordance with this agreement are granted exclusively for the word/figurative mark of the ECARF Foundation registered at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office under no. 3020170143729:
§ 2 Right of use
(1) The seal is a trademark that is protected by trademark law and may not be modified. The seal user undertakes to use the seal exclusively in the provided graphic form on his products and in advertisements for his products or services. The specified use is regulated in detail in Annex 1 (Design Guidelines). Additional advertising statements in text form, such as “recommended by”, are not permitted without express prior written approval. They require the prior written consent of ECARF Institute.
(2) By signing the terms and conditions of use, the Seal User agrees to use the Seal only with the certified and registered products or services. Any use of the Seal without certification and without registration, for example, on identical or similar products or on goods and products used to produce a certified product, is prohibited.
(3) The ECARF Institute issues a license number (certificate number) for the right of use. It can be applied optionally in a sufficiently legible manner by the Seal User for each instance of use of the Seal on the lower right edge (see example in Annex 1).
(4) The Seal User is responsible for the integrity of his advertising. The ECARF Institute does not check the communication materials for compliance with competition law, nor does it formulate wording or design logos. The Seal User shall indemnify the ECARF Institute against any third-party claims arising from his advertising.
(5) Based on this agreement, the Seal user is specifically permitted to:
a) Display the Seal on the product or its presentation or packaging or at the point of sale
b) Offer the product for sale, put it into circulation, or possess it for the specified purposes under the Seal in combination with his own brands
(6) ECARF Institute shall provide the Seal User with the Seal in electronic format as an EPS (or other) file (printable vector file).
§ 3 Period of use
(1) Usage rights for the Seal in accordance with this agreement are limited to two years starting from the conclusion of the contract.
(2) The Seal User shall apply for an extension in advance, at least three months before expiry of the validity period, if he intends to continue using the Seal. The ECARF Institute will review the application for extension on the basis of the certification and registration guidelines for the targeted extension period. The Seal User is not entitled to an extension.
(3) The granting of the ECARF Seal is a service of the ECARF Foundation dependent on successful certification. In the event of non-compliance with these terms of use and the criteria for awarding the seal (ECARF criteria), the right to use the seal may be withdrawn with immediate effect. The criteria for awarding the ECARF Seal are available for various products and services at About the Seal – ECARF Siegel (ecarf-siegel.org).
§ 4 Obligations of the Seal User
(1) The Seal User shall only use the Seal after the ECARF Institute has verified the written and completed application and delivered a decision in writing in favour of granting the Seal, and the inspection fee has been paid in full.
(2) The Seal User shall uphold the certification criteria during the entire validity period of the Seal and shall allow compliance inspections to be carried out at any time by the ECARF Institute through the appropriate measures, such as requests for and/or inspections of documentation, monitoring, etc.
(3) The Seal User shall report to the ECARF Institute, immediately and of his own accord, any changes to the product/service that may have an effect on tolerability in people with allergies. The ECARF Institute shall determine whether the changes to the product/service have any consequences on the validity of the Seal. New tolerability specifications for the changed product may be required, or the certificate will be adjusted to the new formula/revised structure as necessary.
(4) The Seal User shall provide the ECARF Institute with information about the products/services for the ECARF website and other communication channels for the general public. The required basic information is outlined in Annex 2. Furthermore, the Seal User shall review this information on a regular basis and inform ECARF of any changes.
(5) All media information about the Seal and/or the ECARF Institute and/or the ECARF Foundation, such as press releases about certification, is to be approved by the ECARF Institute before publication. The ECARF Institute shall receive an unsolicited copy thereof free of charge.
§ 5 User fee
The Seal User will be charged a user fee based on the service rendered for the review of the Seal application, including the granting of the Seal, the inspection report, and management of the Seal, including a nominal fee.
§ 6 Contractual penalty
(1) Any violations committed by the Seal User of the design guidelines according to Annex 1 or of the provisions of this contract must be rectified immediately upon discovery at the expense of the Seal User.
(2) For each culpable violation according to section 6 (1), the Seal User shall pay a penalty equal to three times the amount of the inspection fee to the ECARF Institute.
(3) The right to assert claims for damages shall remain unaffected.
§ 7 Liability waiver
(1) The ECARF Institute does not assume liability for the portfolio of brands of the ECARF Foundation.
(2) The ECARF Institute does not advise the Seal User on the admissibility of the advertising.
(3) The Seal User shall release the ECARF Institute and the ECARF Foundation within the internal relationship from any claims asserted by third parties – on any legal basis whatsoever – arising from the use of the brand(s) and/or advertising with research results, and shall compensate these claims.
(4) The ECARF Seal is granted on the basis of inspection certificates issued by inspection institutes, for which ECARF does not assume any liability.
§ 8 Product liability
The Seal User is solely liable for the accuracy of the information regarding the products and services and for ensuring compliance with the criteria. The fundamentals of the Seal are general statements that cannot be deemed an adequate substitute for individual advice and/or therapy. The Seal does not guarantee the absolute tolerability of a product or service and therefore does not represent a universal declaration of safety. Neither the ECARF Institute nor the ECARF Foundation can assume liability for any intolerances. Allergies are always diverse and specific to each individual. Nor can any liability be assumed for damages arising from the incorrect use of a product.
§ 9 Succession of affiliated companies
This agreement can be transferred to any successors and affiliated companies of the Seal User. The Seal User shall thereby impose the obligations arising from this agreement on his successors and affiliated companies, including the obligation to retransmit, where applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this agreement, or any parts thereof, may not be transferred without the authorisation of the ECARF Institute and the ECARF Foundation.
§ 10 Data protection
In accordance with section 33 paragraph 1 of the German Federal Data Protection Act, the ECARF Institute declares that the personal data of the Seal User and the natural persons acting on his behalf shall be collected, stored, processed, transferred, and used exclusively for the purposes of executing this contract. All data of the Seal User and of the natural persons acting on his behalf shall be treated confidentially. Transfer of the data to third parties for commercial purposes is excluded. The ECARF Institute reserves the right to engage third parties for the execution of this agreement.
§ 11 Final provisions
(1) These terms and conditions are governed exclusively by German law.
(2) The place of performance of the obligations arising from this contract is Berlin.
(3) The place of jurisdiction for this contract and all Seal-related legal issues is Berlin.
(4) There are no oral ancillary agreements. Changes and amendments to this agreement are valid only if made in writing. This provision also applies to this written form clause.
(5) Should one or more of the individual provisions in this agreement be invalid or become invalid at any time, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected. In this case, the parties shall replace the invalid provision with one that comes as close as legally permissible to the commercial intent of the original.
(6) This agreement is effective without the signature of the ECARF Institute.