Incoterms Selector

Curated by Vinod Kumar Jain & Amit Jain · All Frontier Global · free, no login

The eleven Incoterms 2020 rules split cost and risk between seller and buyer in eleven standard ways — seven usable for any mode of transport, four for sea and inland waterway only. Answer the questions below and the selector narrows to the rule that matches, with the traps spelled out. Everything here is our own plain-English summary; the ICC's published Incoterms® 2020 text is the authority.

1 · How will the goods travel?

2 · Who arranges and pays the main carriage?

Informal responsibility summary — all eleven rules

Our own words, written as a memory aid. It is a summary, not the rule text: the ICC’s published Incoterms® 2020 book is the authoritative source and the only thing to contract on.

Rule	Usable for	Main carriage booked & paid by	Insurance obligation	Export clearance	Import clearance	Risk passes to buyer when…
EXW Ex Works	Any mode	Buyer	Neither party obliged	Buyer (seller assists)	Buyer	the goods are placed at the buyer’s disposal at the seller’s premises — not even loaded
FCA Free Carrier	Any mode	Buyer	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods are handed to the carrier the buyer nominated (loaded onto the collecting vehicle if handover is at the seller’s premises)
FAS Free Alongside Ship	Sea / inland waterway only	Buyer	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods are placed alongside the vessel at the named shipment port
FOB Free On Board	Sea / inland waterway only	Buyer	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods are on board the vessel at the named shipment port
CFR Cost and Freight	Sea / inland waterway only	Seller, to the destination port	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods are on board at the shipment port — before the leg the seller is paying for
CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight	Sea / inland waterway only	Seller, to the destination port	Seller insures, at the lower default level of cover	Seller	Buyer	the goods are on board at the shipment port
CPT Carriage Paid To	Any mode	Seller, to the named destination	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods are handed to the first carrier
CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid To	Any mode	Seller, to the named destination	Seller insures, at the higher default level of cover unless agreed otherwise	Seller	Buyer	the goods are handed to the first carrier
DAP Delivered at Place	Any mode	Seller	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods reach the named destination on the arriving transport, ready for unloading
DPU Delivered at Place Unloaded	Any mode	Seller	Neither party obliged	Seller	Buyer	the goods are unloaded at the named destination — the one rule that makes the seller unload
DDP Delivered Duty Paid	Any mode	Seller	Neither party obliged	Seller	Seller, duties and taxes included	the goods reach the named destination ready for unloading — the maximum seller obligation

Four things the rules do not do

They allocate cost and risk, not ownership. No Incoterms rule transfers title to the goods, and none decides when you get paid. Title, payment terms and remedies for breach live in the sale contract, not in the three-letter code.
Four rules are sea and inland waterway only. FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF assume the goods are handed over at or over the ship’s rail. For containerised cargo dropped at a terminal days before loading, the mode-neutral rules — FCA, CPT, CIP — are the better fit, otherwise risk sits with the seller while the box waits.
Under a C-rule the seller pays for carriage but risk still passes at origin. That split is the classic trap: with CFR, CIF, CPT or CIP the seller buys the transport, yet damage in transit is the buyer’s claim.
Parties can vary the detail by contract. The rules are defaults. Name the exact place or port (“FCA Nhava Sheva, Incoterms® 2020”), and write down any variation you agree — a broader insurance level, who pays terminal handling — because a bare three-letter code will not carry it.

Sources

Authoritative source, and the text to contract on: the ICC Incoterms® 2020 rules, published by the International Chamber of Commerce. “Incoterms” is an ICC trademark. Everything on this page is our own paraphrase written for orientation — no ICC text is reproduced, and where our summary and the published rules differ, the published rules win. Indicative guidance, not legal advice.

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Incoterms Selector

Informal responsibility summary — all eleven rules

Four things the rules do not do

Sources

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