CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION TO THE INCOTERMS® RULES

Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The 5 Basic Questions:
What, How, Where, Who, and Why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

  • What are the Incoterms® rules? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
  • How are the Incoterms® rules properly used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
  • Where do you find the Incoterms® rules? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
  • Who is bound by the Incoterms® rules? .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  • Why should importers and exporters use and
    understand the Incoterms® rules in detail? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Documents for reference

  • Incoterms® 2010 Guidance Notes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  • Specimen form of ICC Model International Sale Contract.. . . . . . . . . . 26

How does one choose the right Incoterms® rule?
– A decision-making checklist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Incoterms® 2010 rules and documents
– documents commonly needed in sale transactions
under the Incoterms® rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 38

A note on ‘delivery’ under the Incoterms® rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Other common questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

The Golden Rules of the Incoterms® rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

CHAPTER TWO – GUIDANCE ON SELECTED INCOTERMS® RULES QUESTIONS BY ICC EXPERTS

Real-life questions received by ICC with responses giving interpretive guidance, prepared by a group of the world’s foremost experts on the Incoterms® rules

Incoterms® 2010 – General questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Incoterms 1990 – General questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Incoterms® 2010 – Multimodal questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78.

Incoterms® 1990 – Multimodal questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Incoterms® 2010 – Maritime questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Incoterms 1990 – Maritime questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

ANNEXES