Incoterms define the risk, cost and responsibility for both the seller and the buyer in any international trade transaction with regards to the transportation of that order.
What are Incoterms?
Incoterms or the International Commercial terms define the precise point at which the seller of the goods in international trade "delivers" the goods to the buyer. It is at this point at which the responsibility for the costs of transportation and consequent charges are relinquished by the seller and must thereafter be borne by the buyer. In addition to the costs, there is a point in the movement of the goods at which the liability for the risks of loss or damage to the goods also passes from the seller to the buyer. The Incoterms clearly define these points.
Incoterms range from the least amount of risk for the seller namely EX WORKS - EXW to the most amount of risk for the seller namely DELIVERED DUTY PAID - DDP
The Incoterms have been drawn up by the International Chamber of Commerce as early as 1936 and have been updated to include INCOTERMS 2000
Visit the ICC website : www.incoterms.org.com
For a comprehensive list of all the Incoterms refer to the section on INCOTERMS
in the interactive export roadmap