Incoterms


Incoterms i.e.International Commercial Terms

A contract for sale of goods involves mutual agreement between the buyer and the seller on several aspect of the deal. Apart from quality, quantity, price etc. the contract also lays down certain sales terms i.e. Incoterms, that spell out how the underlying goods are to be delivered by the seller to the buyer. In the past interpretation of Incoterms varied across countries leading to misunderstanding and trade disputes. So the Paris based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have standardized and incorporated these into a wider classification of defined terminology to facilitate international trade. This classification is known as International Commercial Terms or Incoterms. The basic purpose of Incoterms or sales terms is to determine at what points the seller has fulfilled his obligations so that the goods in a legal sense could be said to have been delivered to the buyer. Thus the Incoterms are so expressed as to indicate clearly:
1.Who will arrange and pay for the carriage of the goods from one point to another?
2. Who will bear the risk if this operation can’t be carried out?
3. Who will bear the risk of loss or damage to the goods incurred in transit?