The Mechanics · Reference + Ledger
Incoterms® are eleven three-letter shipping terms a contract names to fix one exact spot where cost and risk move from seller to buyer — nothing more. Below is a sortable ledger of all eleven, each explained in this site’s own words, sorted into the seven that work for any transport and the four built only for sea and inland-waterway cargo. The rules are the International Chamber of Commerce’s copyrighted work — treat this page as a map to the terrain, never as the deed to the land.
01 — What These Rules Decide
An Incoterms rule answers exactly three questions for a sale contract: who arranges and pays for carriage (and, for two rules, insurance); the point where cost stops being the seller’s and starts being the buyer’s; and the point where risk of loss or damage transfers. That’s the whole job. A rule says nothing about who owns the goods — that’s a separate question for the sale contract and the law that governs it — and nothing about the price or how payment is made.
The eleven rules split cleanly into two families. Seven work for any mode of transport — truck, rail, air, sea, or a mix — because they hand goods over at a place, not at a ship’s side: EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, DDP. Four are written specifically for sea and inland waterway transport, because the handover happens alongside or on board a vessel: FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF. Using a sea-only rule for cargo that never sees a ship’s rail — a shipping container handed to a terminal, say — is exactly the trap in section 03.
02 — The Ledger
Search, sort or filter by mode. Every description below is this site’s own wording — for the rule that actually binds a contract, read ICC’s current published text (section 05).
| EXW — Ex Works | Any mode of transport | Buyer, entirely | Seller’s own premises | At seller’s premises, goods placed at buyer’s disposal | Buyer · Buyer |
| FCA — Free Carrier | Any mode of transport | Buyer, from the named handover | Handover to buyer’s nominated carrier/place | When handed to that carrier (or loaded, if at seller’s premises) | Seller · Buyer |
| CPT — Carriage Paid To | Any mode of transport | Seller, to the named destination | Named destination (freight) | When handed to the first carrier — well before that destination | Seller · Buyer |
| CIP — Carriage & Insurance Paid To | Any mode of transport | Seller, to the named destination | Named destination (freight + insurance) | When handed to the first carrier — same split as CPT | Seller · Buyer |
| DAP — Delivered at Place | Any mode of transport | Seller, to the named place | Named place of destination | On arrival, ready for unloading, not cleared for import | Seller · Buyer |
| DPU — Delivered at Place Unloaded | Any mode of transport | Seller, to the named place | Named place, goods unloaded | After unloading at the named place — the one rule that puts unloading on the seller | Seller · Buyer |
| DDP — Delivered Duty Paid | Any mode of transport | Seller, all the way | Named place, duty paid | On arrival, ready for unloading, cleared for import | Seller · Seller |
| FAS — Free Alongside Ship | Sea & inland waterway only | Buyer, from alongside the ship | Alongside the ship, named port of shipment | When goods are placed alongside the vessel, before loading | Seller · Buyer |
| FOB — Free on Board | Sea & inland waterway only | Buyer, from on board | On board, named port of shipment | When goods are on board the vessel | Seller · Buyer |
| CFR — Cost and Freight | Sea & inland waterway only | Seller, to the named port | Named port of destination (freight) | When goods are on board at the port of shipment — same point as FOB | Seller · Buyer |
| CIF — Cost, Insurance and Freight | Sea & inland waterway only | Seller, to the named port | Named port of destination (freight + insurance) | When goods are on board at the port of shipment — same point as FOB/CFR | Seller · Buyer |
Method: all eleven rows render as static HTML, so the full ledger reads without any script; the search box, mode filter and column sort are enhancements on top. Every description is this site’s own summary of what a rule does — not ICC’s rule text, and not a substitute for it.
Incoterms® is a registered trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce, and the text of the rules is ICC’s copyrighted work. This page’s stance, carried from the AFG Trade landing: explain what each rule does in original words, name the rules because naming helps, and never reproduce or closely paraphrase ICC’s published rule text. For the wording that actually binds a contract there is exactly one source, and it is ICC’s current edition — Incoterms® 2020 as of this page’s own access date.
This page is information, not legal, customs or tax advice. Which rule to use, and how to word it into a specific contract, is work for trade counsel or a customs broker working from your facts.
03 — Three Classic Traps
Three mistakes account for most of the disputes this rule set was built to prevent — none of them a defect in the rules, all of them a rule used somewhere it doesn’t fit.
EXW puts export clearance on the buyer — but a foreign buyer often cannot legally act as exporter of record in the seller’s own country. In practice the seller frequently ends up doing that step anyway, without being contractually obliged to, and if no one is willing, the shipment can simply get stuck at the border.
Containerised cargo is usually handed to a carrier or terminal days before it’s loaded, and a strict reading of FOB doesn’t transfer risk until the goods are actually on board — leaving a gap while the box sits in the yard. FCA is built for exactly this handover and generally fits containerised freight better.
DDP commits the seller to importing into a country whose customs, tax and product rules they don’t operate in daily. Some countries won’t even let a foreign party act as importer of record — meaning DDP can be promised in a contract and be operationally impossible to deliver without a local partner already in place.
04 — FAQ
Three things and three things only: who arranges and pays for carriage (and insurance, for two rules), the exact point where cost stops being the seller’s and starts being the buyer’s, and the exact point where risk of loss or damage transfers. It does not decide who owns the goods — that is a separate question of contract and property law — and it does not decide the price or the payment method.
Incoterms® 2020, in force since 1 January 2020, and still ICC's current published edition as of this page's own access date. Older editions — 2010, 2000 and earlier — remain valid in contracts that name them, which is exactly why a contract should always name the edition explicitly, for example "FOB Mumbai, Incoterms® 2020", rather than leaving it implied.
No, and this is the single most misunderstood part of the whole rule set. Under CPT, CIP, CFR and CIF, the seller pays freight all the way to a named destination, but risk transfers much earlier — when the goods are handed to the first carrier, or loaded on board at the port of shipment. Freight paid to a place does not mean risk carried to that place.
Contracts sometimes do, but it creates a real gap: containerised cargo is typically handed to a carrier or terminal days before loading, and a strict reading of FOB's risk point does not transfer until the goods are actually on board — leaving an ownership-of-risk gap while the box sits in the yard. FCA is built for exactly this handover and is generally the better fit for containerised freight.
Because EXW puts export clearance formalities on the buyer, and a foreign buyer often cannot legally act as the exporter of record in the seller's own country. In practice the seller frequently ends up doing that step anyway, without being contractually obliged to — and if a willing seller isn't available to help, the shipment can simply get stuck at the border.
With the International Chamber of Commerce, at iccwbo.org. Incoterms® is ICC's registered trademark and the published rule text is its copyrighted work — this page explains what each rule does in its own original words, and is a map to the terrain, never a substitute for reading ICC's current edition before a contract is signed.
05 — Sources
About this page: information, not legal, customs or tax advice. The rule count, grouping and 2020-is-current status are verified against ICC's own page above; every description of what a rule does is this site's own original wording, never ICC's rule text. ICC periodically revises the rules (the last revision was 2020, following 2010 and 2000) — always confirm the edition named in your own contract and read ICC's current text before relying on any rule.
The Line
This ledger is a map, not the deed — the words that bind are ICC's, and this page names the edition rather than guessing at it. No rate, no rule interpretation for your exact shipment.