Recapping Recaps – Interpreting inconsistencies between the „printed terms“ and the „recap“ | Case by Case (Ep. 4)

Anyone familiar with the world of shipping, commodities and international trade will be familiar with agreements where the key commercial terms are agreed in a „recap“, with full conditions to be incorporated by reference to a separate document (the „printed terms“).

But what happens when the terms in the Recap would give a different result – if read in isolation – to the terms in the printed terms? Should the parties try to read both together, to find a way of giving effect to both provisions – or should one set of terms prevail, at the expense of the other?

This was exactly the question before the Court in Septo Trading Inc v Tintrade Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 718, which Luke and Calum discuss in this podcast.