Incoterms 2020 chart and checker
Pick a rule, then the transport mode and the kind of named place in your contract. The checker says where delivery and risk pass, who pays what, who must insure (only under CIF and CIP), and flags the combinations that cause disputes, such as FOB on a container or CIF naming a port of shipment.
The Incoterm is on the paperwork. So is everything you re-key.
Mirage extracts shipper, consignee, cargo and container data from bills of lading, scanned, PDF or emailed, and pushes it into your TMS with no re-keying. Send us a few documents and we send back a plan, no commitment.
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Insurance: an obligation under two rules, a choice under nine
Only CIF and CIP oblige anyone to insure, and it is the seller, for the buyer's benefit. Under CIF the minimum is Institute Cargo Clauses (C), and the parties may agree more. Under CIP, since 2020, it is Clauses (A) or similar.
Under the other nine rules neither party owes the other any insurance. Whoever bears the risk at a given stage decides whether to cover it: the buyer from delivery under the E, F and C rules, the seller up to destination under the D rules. A chart that writes "Insurance: buyer" against DAP or DDP is wrong twice: there is no obligation, and in transit the risk is the seller's.
Sea-only rules and containers
FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF are for sea and inland waterway transport only. With a container, the goods usually leave the seller's hands at a terminal or depot, while these rules pass the risk only alongside or on board the ship. ICC's own checklist recommends FCA, CPT or CIP for containerised or multimodal goods, keeping FOB, CFR and CIF for goods loaded directly on board, such as bulk.
For air, road or rail, a sea-only rule does not fit at all: choose among EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP.
The named place gives the rule its meaning
Under the E, F and D rules the named place is where the seller delivers: risk and costs pass there. Under the C rules it is the destination the seller pays carriage to, while the risk passed earlier, at delivery in the seller's country. That is why a C rule needs two places in the contract.
FCA is the case where the kind of place changes the obligations: at the seller's premises the seller loads the buyer's vehicle; anywhere else it delivers on its own vehicle, ready for unloading.
What an Incoterm does not settle
An Incoterm does not say when ownership passes: ICC Academy calls that the most common misunderstanding, and title is settled by the sale contract, often on payment. Nor does it set the price, the payment terms or the terms of the carriage contract, which is why who pays unloading under DAP, CFR or CPT depends on what the seller's carriage contract covers.
Sources
- ICC, Incoterms 2020: the 11 rules; CIF keeps Clauses (C) as default cover with the option to agree more; CIP requires Clauses (A) or similar; DAT became DPU.
- ICC, Incoterms 2020 Checklist and Flowcharts (PDF): FCA, CPT, CIP for containerised or multimodal goods; FOB, CFR, CIF for goods loaded on board; EXW suited primarily for domestic trade; DDP import clearance caution.
- ICC Academy, FCA or FOB: FCA at the seller's premises: delivered once loaded; elsewhere: ready for unloading.
- ICC Academy, EXW or FCA: under EXW the buyer loads and clears export; under FCA the seller clears export.
- ICC Academy, CIP or CIF: insurance levels: Clauses (A) for CIP, Clauses (C) for CIF.
- ICC Academy, CFR or CIF: risk passes on board at the port of shipment; under CFR the seller owes no insurance.
- ICC Academy, C rules or D rules: no D rule obliges the seller to insure; unloading under DAP and DDP; DDP import formalities.
- ICC Academy, place of delivery and risk transfer: name places precisely; the two critical points of the C rules.
- ICC Academy, the title transfer myth: Incoterms do not deal with the passing of title; FOB and containers.
FAQ
Only CIF and CIP, and the obligation is the seller's, for the buyer's benefit: Institute Cargo Clauses (C) at minimum under CIF, Clauses (A) or similar under CIP. Under the nine other rules neither party has to insure; the one carrying the risk decides.
ICC's checklist points to FCA, CPT or CIP when goods travel in containers or are delivered to a terminal, because the seller loses control of the container before it is loaded. FOB, CFR and CIF fit goods loaded directly on board.
No. They allocate delivery, risk, costs and formalities. When ownership passes is set by the sale contract and the applicable law, often on payment.
No. FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF are for sea and inland waterway transport. For air, road, rail or several modes, use EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU or DDP.
The buyer, unless the seller's carriage contract includes unloading, in which case the seller pays it. DPU is the only rule where the seller must unload.
Only when the named place is the seller's premises. At any other place, such as a terminal or the forwarder's warehouse, the seller delivers on its own vehicle, ready for unloading, and the buyer's carrier unloads.
The Incoterm is one field on the invoice, and it has to match the rest.
Mirage deploys AI agents that read invoices, bills of lading and customs documents, check that the Incoterm, the named place and the freight charges agree, and flag what does not for your team to decide.
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