JAPAN-PACIFIC e-Business Service Terms of Use

Article 1 The definitions of the terms used in the Terms of Use shall be as set out in the following items respectively, in addition to those defined in the Terms of Use.

(1)"PIC"
Means the International Organization Pacific Islands Centre.

(2)“JAPAN-PACIFIC e-Business”
An online matching system that provides several functions of this Service which is operated and managed by PIC.

(3)"This System"
Systems including JAPAN-PACIFIC e-Business and others provided in connection therewith.

(4)"This Service"
Systems including the Business Matching Platform Service, the Pacific Island Countries Tourism Information Platform Service, and other services provided by PIC, which are available to users who have registered as members in accordance with the Terms of Use.

(5)"Member"
A person who has registered as a member of This Service in accordance with the Terms of Use.

(6)"Information Publisher"
A member who posts the necessary information (e.g. information on the desired business as an investment destination, information on the desired import/export products or services, etc.) for the purpose of business matching between Pacific Island companies and Japanese companies covered by This Service.

(7)"User"
A person who uses the services available in This System (whether or not he/she has membership status).

(8)"Other Rules and Regulations"
The rules and regulations laid down by PIC, for the use of This System and This Service by the User, which form part of the Terms of Use.

Article 2 The Terms of Use and Other Rules and Regulations (hereinafter referred to as the “Terms and Conditions”) set out the terms and conditions along with other necessary matters of use of This System and This Service (hereinafter referred to as the "Services"), and apply to all actions when using the Services provided by PIC.

2　The User must use the Services in accordance with the Terms and Conditions and is deemed to have accepted all of the Terms and Conditions by using the Services in any way.

3　If any provisions of the Terms and Conditions are not applicable to the User at the time of use of the Services they shall apply from the time they become applicable in the future.

Article 3 Any person wishing to become a Member shall apply for membership in the manner prescribed by PIC, having agreed to the Terms and Conditions

2　The person who applied for membership (hereinafter referred to as "Registered Applicant") becomes a Member when PIC accepts the application for use.

3　The Member shall immediately make any changes using This System when there are any changes in the information provided at the time of registration. PIC shall not be liable for any damage or other loss caused by the Member's failure to make the necessary changes.

4　Members may use the Services to the extent permitted by PIC.

Article 4 PIC shall, at its discretion, reject the membership application, cancel the membership registration or take other necessary measures such as suspension of use, if the Registered Applicant or User falls into any of the following categories;

(1) if the application is not made in accordance with the method referred to in the preceding article

(2) if the registration contains inaccurate or false or inauthentic information

(3) if the Member's registration has been terminated or the Member has been suspended or other measures have been taken in the past for violating the Terms and Conditions or other rules and regulations

(4) if the person/company violates or is likely to violate the Terms and Conditions, or other rules and regulations

(5) if the person/company is a member of an anti-social force (including a person/company suspected of being substantially involved) or an associated person/company of an anti-social force

(6) in addition to the above items, if PIC deems it inappropriate

Article 5 If a Member wishes to cancel their membership (withdraw from membership), they shall follow the procedure for cancelling their registration in the manner prescribed by PIC.

Article 6 Membership registration and use of This Service, which is only within the scope defined by PIC, shall be free of charge. However, PIC may set or revise the fees by amending the Terms and Conditions or other rules and regulations.

2　The Users shall bear the costs, regardless of the name, arising from the use of the Services and the development of the usage environment.

Article 7 Only Members may post information as specified by PIC as Information Publishers, and non-members may not post information on This System.

2　Members wishing to post its information in the preceding paragraph (hereinafter referred to as "Information Registration Applicant") shall apply for information registration in the manner prescribed by PIC.

3　The Information Registration Applicant shall register the information specified by PIC, and shall be able to publish the information within the scope indicated by PIC on the application screen on This System.

4　The information referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be published as soon as PIC has accepted the application for information registration in the prescribed manner.

5　If it becomes necessary to make changes, including corrections or amendments, to the contents of the information, the Information Publisher shall immediately make the changes on This System. PIC shall not be liable for any damage caused by the information posted or by the failure of the Information Publisher to make the necessary changes.

Article 8 PIC shall, at its discretion, reject the application for information registration, cancel the information posted or take any other necessary action if any of the following applies to the Information Registration Applicant or the information posted on This system;

(1) if the application for registration of information is made without following the method described in the preceding article

(2) if the Member has been subject to suspension of use or termination of membership or other measures

(3) if the person/company violates or is likely to violate the Terms and Conditions, or other rules and regulations

(4) in addition to the above items, if PIC deems it inappropriate

2　If a Member ceases to be a Member for any reason, the publication of information posted by that Member shall cease.

Article 9 The Users shall properly maintain, at their own responsibility and expense, the computer and all other equipment, software and means of communication necessary to use This System.

2　The User shall take security measures to prevent unauthorized access and information leaks, or others, in accordance with the usage environment.

3　PIC is not involved in any way with the User's usage environment and accepts no responsibility for any damages or other losses resulting from the User's usage environment.

Article 10 The Member shall be responsible for managing the password, Member ID and registered e-mail address, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Password and others") given to or set up by PIC in connection with the Services.

2　The Member may not allow a third party to use the Password and others, or lend, transfer, sell or pledge it.

3　PIC accepts no liability for inadequate management of the Password and others. by the Member, errors in use or use by third parties.

4　The Member shall immediately inform PIC if the Password and others is known or could be used by a third party, and shall comply with PIC's instructions if any.

Article 11 The User shall agree to the following items when using the Services;

(1) PIC shall grant the Member or a non-member User the right to use the Services to the extent determined by PIC respectively.

(2) The rights to all contents provided by PIC within the Services are owned by PIC, and PIC does not grant the User any license to use or enforce any patents, utility model rights, design rights, trade mark rights, copyrights, rightful know-how or other intellectual property rights (hereinafter simply “Intellectual Property Rights”) owned by PIC.

(3) Users may not reproduce, transmit, transfer, lend, translate, adapt, or in any other way to use the contents of the Service, etc. (excluding use in accordance with Article 1) without the prior consent of PIC, regardless of the method used.

(4) PIC does not grant the User any sublicensing rights in respect of the Services.

(5) The use of the Services granted by PIC to the User shall be non-exclusive.

(6) If a Member loses their membership, whether due to deregistration or any other reason, PIC's license to use the Services to the Member will cease to exist.

(7) If the license to use the Services to the Member ceases to exist, all benefits relating to the Services to the Member will cease, unless otherwise treated by PIC.

(8) PIC may at any time change the validity period and other terms and conditions for the use of the Services granted to the User.

2　In using the Services the User acknowledges the following to PIC after having reviewed PIC's Privacy Policy/Handling of Personal Information (see Article 18);

(1) PIC may use or license, free of charge, information concerning the User (including information or content posted or displayed by the User) to the extent necessary for the operation and smooth provision of the Services advertising of the Services advertising of third party products or services in relation to the Services construction, improvement, maintenance and service enhancement of the Services. When using such information, it shall be possible to omit part of the information or the indication of the name.

(2) In addition to the above, PIC shall be deemed to have a free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license with sublicensing rights to reproduce, screen, publicly transmit (including but not limited to making transmittable, the same shall apply hereinafter), display, distribute, transfer, lend, adapt, translate, and make secondary use of the information about the user in any form or medium. The User shall not exercise his/her/their moral rights in connection with the above-mentioned use of PIC, and in the event that all or part of the rights belong to a third party, the User shall handle the rights in such a way that the third party does not exercise his/her moral rights.

(3) PIC may provide the User with information such as announcements of new system functions, distribution of advertisements, distribution of email newsletters, administrative communications on the operation of the Services and other information. However, if the User notifies PIC in advance or after the fact that he/she/they does not wish to receive such information, PIC shall not provide such information, except when necessary for the provision of the Services. Regardless of the User's request to receive information, PIC may remove the User's e-mail address from the e-mail distribution list, if more than a certain number of error notices were received, or if there are complaints from third parties, despite the distribution of e-mails to the e-mail address registered by the User.

(4) PIC shall be entitled to create figures or statistical data from the User's information in a form that does not identify the individual User and to use such statistical data without any restrictions (including but not limited to proposals to companies and market research).

3　In using the Services, the User must complete all necessary processing to fulfil the conditions of the Terms and Conditions in the event that he/she/they has intellectual property rights or other rights in information (including content) that he/she/they has posted or displayed or in the event that the rights in such information belong to third parties.

Article 12 The User shall not do any of the following acts in relation to the use of the Services;

(1) Prohibitions concerning input information and publication (including display) of information

(a) posting information with contents that is difficult to verify as to its truth or falsity or information with false contents

(b) publishing information that is or may be offensive to public order and morals

(c) posting any other information that PIC considers inappropriate

(2) Other general prohibitions

(a) disclosing or providing confidential or personal information of PIC, other Users or third parties obtained through the Services or outside the Services without a justifiable reason

(b) interfering with the activities of PIC, other Users or third parties by fraudulent means or activities

(c) actions that cause trouble for PIC, other Users or third parties' transactions

(d) acts that infringe or may infringe the property, privacy and portrait rights, as well as copyright and other intellectual property rights, of PIC, other Users or third parties

(e) acts that unfairly discriminate against (or encourage discrimination against) or defame PIC, other Users or third parties, or damage their reputation or credibility

(f) acts of pretending to be another person other than the User himself/herself/themselves, acts of pretending to have representative or agency rights even though they do not exist, or acts of using the Services under the pretense of having an alliance or cooperative relationship with another person or organization

(g) fraudulent, threatening or other criminal acts

(h) acts that PIC considers to be contrary to or likely to be contrary to the law, public order and morals or the Terms and Conditions

(i) registration of obscene information or other acts that cause discomfort or disgust to other Users

(j) fraudulent acts contrary to the purpose of the Services

(k) interfering with the operation of PIC's business

(l) acts that damage the reputation of PIC and the Services

(m) acts of reproduction, sale, publication or any other use of information obtained through the Services beyond the scope of private use

(n) accessing or attempting to access the User's system authentication and security exploration, non-public information or accounts of the Services without legitimate authority

(o) acts that burden PIC's or any other party's servers or that interfere with or damage the operation of the Services or other network systems, or acts that have the potential to do it

(p) any other conduct deemed inappropriate by PIC

2　The User shall be liable for any and all damages incurred by PIC as a result of each of the acts described in the preceding paragraph, and PIC may take all legal measures, both civil and criminal, against the User. In such cases, PIC shall not be liable to the User for any disadvantage suffered by the User.

Article 13 The User shall be obliged to compensate PIC for any damage, whether direct or indirect, in the event that the User violates the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations, or causes damage to PIC through the use of the Services and other Rule and Regulations.

2　If the User violates the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations or causes damage to third parties (including other Users) through the use of the Services, the User shall be liable for all compensation to such third parties. In this case, if PIC suffers damage or incurs certain costs, the User must compensate PIC for such damage, or comply with PIC’s request for reimbursement.

3　In the event that PIC is liable to the User for damages, PIC's liability shall be limited to actual, direct and ordinary damages incurred by the User as a result of PIC's default or tortious act.

Article 14 The User shall use the Services at the User's own risk and PIC shall not be liable for any act done using the Services or the consequences thereof.

2　PIC does not guarantee the legality, morality, reliability or accuracy of the information obtained by the User through the Service, information about the User and their words, deeds and actions. Users acknowledge this and use the Services at their own risk.

3　PIC does not provide job placement services as defined in the Employment Security Act in the Services.

4　PIC shall not be involved in mediating individual employment contracts or other agreements concerning information and Users, nor in any disputes arising from such agreements.

5　PIC does not guarantee that the contents of the Services will be free from technical inaccuracies, typographical errors, misprints or other defects or failures.

6　External sites linked to the information provided by the Services are not managed or operated by PIC, and PIC accepts no responsibility for the legality, morality, reliability or accuracy of their contents, or for any changes, updates, etc. to such sites. The fact that an external site is linked to the information provided by This System does not imply that there is any commercial relationship between PIC and the external site.

7　PIC shall not be liable for any disputes with Users, companies or other third parties arising from the use of the Services.

8　The User shall use the Services after agreeing that PIC shall not be liable for any and all damages arising from or in connection with the following items;

(1) that the User has used or failed to use the Services

(2) that the User has incurred costs in order to carry out transactions, obtain information or substitute services through the Services

(3) unauthorized access to or unauthorized modification of the User's transmission (outgoing) or data

(4) statements, transmissions, actions and other words and deeds by third parties within the Services

(5) other matters relating to the Services and other information provided by PIC

9　The responsibility for the information entered by the User in the Services lies with the User himself/herself/themselves. PIC accepts no responsibility for the legality, morality, reliability, accuracy or other aspects of the content of the information, etc. entered by the User.

10　If a User defames another person, infringes the right to privacy, discloses a third party's personal information without authorization, commits an act in breach of copyright law or otherwise infringes the rights of another person, the User concerned must resolve the matter at his/her/their own responsibility and expense and PIC accepts no liability.

11　PIC is authorized to view the content of the information entered by the User. However, PIC is not obliged to do it. PIC accepts no liability for any damage resulting from this.

12　The User acknowledges that PIC is not obliged to store the information entered by the User using the Services and shall make backups of the necessary information as appropriate.

13　PIC reserves the right to freely view and delete files uploaded by the User if it deems it necessary for the operation of the Services, such as circumstances where the User is not using the Services properly. However, PIC is not obliged to do it. In addition, PIC shall not be liable for any damage caused by these actions.

14　When using the Services or information obtained through the Services, the User must comply with the regulations in the country or region where they are used, and PIC accepts no liability for any breach of regulations by the User.

15　PIC is not responsible for any disputes or other problems that may arise as a result of the communication, activities, interactions or transactions between Users. In the unlikely event of a dispute between Users (including third parties other than the Users) shall be resolved between the Users concerned.

16　The User agrees in advance that PIC may add or change the functions of the Services at its discretion, and that it may suspend or terminate the provision of the Services if necessary.

17　Members and non-member Users shall use the Services on the understanding that the scope and use of the Services are different depending on their respective qualifications.

18　If PIC has a sufficient reason to believe that an act has been committed or is likely to be committed in breach of the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations, PIC may take measures such as terminating the membership registration of the User who has committed such an act, deleting all or part of the input information or changing the scope of publication. PIC shall not be liable for any damage caused by such actions.

Article 15 PIC shall be entitled to change, suspend or terminate all or part of the functions of the Services for any reason and without notice to the User.

2　PIC shall not be liable for any costs or damages incurred by the User as a result of changes made to the Services by PIC.

Article 16 PIC may, at its discretion, change (including enactment and revision) the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations at any time without the approval of the User.

2　The Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations shall enter into force from the time they are displayed by PIC on the Services unless otherwise specified by PIC.

3　The User is deemed to have accepted all of the contents of the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations after the change. In this case, unless otherwise specified by PIC, the information entered by the User prior to the change of the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations shall also apply.

4　PIC shall not be liable for any costs or damages incurred by the User as a result of changes made to the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations by PIC.

Article 17 PIC may temporarily suspend the operation of the Services without prior notice or consent in any of the following cases, and the User shall use the Services with prior consent;

when performing maintenance of the server for the Services or when making changes to the specifications of the Services or repairing system defects, etc.

(2) if a natural disaster or other emergency occurs or is likely to occur, or if the operation of the Services becomes difficult or impossible due to the amendment or passage of laws and regulations.

(3) if PIC deems it necessary to temporarily suspend the operation of the Services for any other unavoidable reason.

2　PIC shall not be liable for any damage or costs incurred by the User or third parties as a result of the suspension of the operation of the Services as set out in the preceding items.

Article 18 PIC shall handle the User's registration and input information in accordance with PIC's Privacy Policy/Handling of Personal Information (URL: https://picebiz.com/policy/).

2　PIC may statistically process Users' site browsing information and provide it to third parties without the Users' prior permission.

3　PIC may disclose input information, including the User's name, and information on the status of use to companies that have entered into a contract with PIC and use PIC's services, subject to an obligation of confidentiality.

4　The companies that have acquired the information set out in this article may use such information in promotional and marketing activities (not only via the internet).

Article 19 In the event that the User discovers a breach of the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations, or needs to contact PIC with a question or other query regarding the Services, the User shall contact PIC at the contact address specified by PIC.

PIC is not obliged to respond or otherwise deal with the enquiries in the preceding paragraph and may refrain from responding at its own discretion.

Article 20 The Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations shall be governed by the laws of Japan and any disputes arising in connection with the Terms and Conditions and other Rule and Regulations shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court or the Tokyo Summary Court as the court of first instance.

Supplementary provisions

Enters into force on 1 July 2024.