EXW
Ex Works (... named place) - Factory delivery (... designated place) refers to the seller's fulfillment of the delivery obligation when they provide the goods to the buyer at their location (factory, workshop, warehouse, etc.). Unless otherwise agreed, the seller is not responsible for loading the goods onto the vehicle prepared by the buyer, nor is it responsible for export customs clearance. The buyer shall bear all costs and risks required to extract the goods from the seller's premises to the destination. Therefore, this term is the term for the seller's minimum obligation. If the buyer is unable to directly or indirectly handle export procedures, this term should not be used, but rather the FCA term should be used.
FCA
Free Carrier (... named place) - Free Carrier (... named place) refers to the seller who must deliver the goods cleared for export to the buyer's designated carrier for supervision at the designated place or place within the delivery period specified in the contract, and bear all costs and risks of loss or damage to the goods until they are placed under the supervision of the carrier. The buyer must, at their own expense, enter into a transportation contract for the shipment of goods from a designated place or place, and fully notify the seller of the name of the carrier, the time and place required for delivery; Bear all costs and risks after the goods are delivered to the carrier; Responsible for collecting goods and paying the price according to the contract provisions.
FAX
Free Alongside Ship (... named port of shipment) - Delivery by ship (... named port of shipment) refers to the seller's fulfillment of the delivery obligation by placing the goods on the dock or barge alongside the ship at the loading port. This means that the buyer must bear all costs and all risks of loss or damage to the goods from that moment on. The FAS term requires the buyer to handle customs clearance for the export of goods. If the buyer cannot directly or indirectly handle export procedures, this term should not be used. This term only applies to sea or inland waterway transportation.
FOB
Free On Board (... named port of shipment) - Delivery on board (... named port of shipment) means that the seller must deliver the goods to the ship designated by the buyer at the designated port of shipment within the specified shipping period in the contract, and bear all costs and risks of loss or damage to the goods until they cross the ship's rail. The FOB term is commonly referred to as' FOB price '.
CFR
Cost And Freight (... named port of destination) - Cost and Freight (... named port of destination) refers to the seller's obligation to deliver the goods to the ship bound for the designated destination port at the loading port within the shipping period specified in the contract, bear all expenses until the goods cross the ship's rail and the risk of loss or damage to the goods, and be responsible for chartering or booking the ship, and pay the normal freight upon arrival at the destination port.
CIR
Cost, Insurance And Freight (... named port of destination) - Cost plus, freight (... named port of destination) refers to the seller's obligation to deliver the goods to the ship at the designated destination port within the stipulated shipping period in the contract, bear all expenses until the goods cross the ship's rail and the risk of loss or damage to the goods, and be responsible for handling freight insurance, paying insurance premiums, and chartering or booking the ship, Pay the freight from the loading port to the destination port.
DAF
Delivered AT Frontier (... named place) - Delivery at the border (... named place) refers to the seller's fulfillment of the delivery obligation when they provide goods cleared for export at the designated place and place on the border before the border of the adjacent country. The term 'border' can be used at any border, including the border of the exporting country. Therefore, it is extremely important to specify the exact place and location of delivery at the relevant border in this term. This term is mainly used for the transportation of goods by railway or road, and can also be applied to any other mode of transportation.
DES
Delivered Ex Ship (... named port of destination) - Delivery on board a vessel at the designated destination port refers to the seller's obligation to deliver goods that have not been cleared for import to the buyer on the vessel at the designated destination port. The seller must bear all costs and risks associated with transporting the goods to the designated destination port. This term only applies to sea or inland waterway transportation.
DEQ
Delivered Ex Quay (duty paid) (... named port of destination) - Delivery at the port of destination (customs duty paid) (... designated destination port) refers to the seller's obligation to deliver the goods to the designated destination port's port, after import clearance and available for collection by the buyer. The seller must bear all risks and expenses related to the delivery of the goods to that location, including customs duties, taxes, and other fees. If the seller cannot directly or indirectly obtain an import license, this term should not be used. If both parties are willing to have the buyer handle the customs clearance procedures for the goods and pay customs duties, the phrase "unpaid customs duties" should be used instead of "paid customs duties", or DES terminology should be used. If both parties request the exclusion of the seller's obligation to pay certain fees when importing goods, such as value-added tax (VAT), it should be clarified by adding words such as "delivered at the port of destination, unpaid value-added tax (... designated destination port)". This term only applies to sea or inland waterway transportation.
DDU
Delivered Duty Unaid (... named place of destination) - Delivered Duty Unaid (... named place of destination) refers to the seller's obligation to deliver the goods when they are delivered to the designated place in the importing country and available for collection by the buyer. The seller must bear the costs and risks of transporting the goods to that location (excluding customs duties, taxes, and other fees collected by the authorities during import, as well as the costs and risks of handling customs procedures). The buyer must bear the additional costs and risks arising from his failure to complete the import customs clearance procedures for the goods in a timely manner. If both parties are willing to have the seller handle customs procedures and bear the resulting costs and risks, words and phrases should be added to clarify this meaning. If both parties are willing to include in the seller's obligations certain fees that need to be paid for the import of goods, such as value-added tax, a sentence should be added to this meaning, such as "unpaid delivery, value-added tax paid (... designated destination)", to make it clear. This term can be applied to various modes of transportation.
DDP
Delivered Duty Paid (... named place of destination) - Delivered duty paid (... named place of destination) refers to the seller's obligation to deliver the goods when they are delivered to the designated place in the importing country and available for collection by the buyer. The seller must bear the risks and expenses of transporting the goods to that location, including customs duties, taxes, and other fees, and handle the customs clearance procedures for the import of the goods. Contrary to EXW, DDP is the term for maximum obligation borne by the seller. If the seller cannot directly or indirectly obtain an import license, this term should not be used. If both parties are willing to have the buyer handle the customs clearance procedures for the import of goods and pay customs duties, the DDU term should be used. If both parties are willing to exclude certain fees, such as value-added tax, that need to be paid when importing the goods from the seller's obligations, they should add words to this meaning, such as "delivery after duty paid, value-added tax unpaid (... designated destination)", to make it clear.
Summary of Maritime Terminology
A/W All Water
ANER Asia NorthAmerica Eastbound Freight Agreement
Bill of Lading
B/R Buying Rate
BAF Bunker adjustment factor Bunker AdjustmentFactor
C&F cost plus sea freight COST AND FREIGHT
C. C Freight collect
D. Container Service Charge
C. Y. Container Yard
C/(CNEE) Consignee
C/O Certificate of Origin
CAF Currency Adjustment Factor Surcharge
CFS Bulk Warehouse Container Freight Station
CFS/CFS bulk delivery (origin/destination)
CHB Customs House Broker
CIF cost, insurance and sea freight COST, INSURANCE, FRIGHT
CIP Freight and Insurance Paid To Destination
COMM Commodity
CPT freight paid to destination Carriage Paid To
CTNR cabinet container
CY/CY full container delivery (start/end)
D/A Document Against Acceptance
Delivery Order for D/O arrival notification
D/P Document Against Payment
TDAF Delivered At Frontie
RDDC Destination Delivery Charge
DDP Delivered Duty Paid
DDU Delivered Duty Unpaid
DEQ Delivered Ex Quay
Delivered Ex Ship
Doc # Document Number
EPS equipment position surcharges
Ex Factory Delivery Work/ExFactory
F/F Freight Forwarder
FAF Fuel Adjustment Factor
FAK Various Goods Freight All Kind
FAS Free Alongside Ship
FCA Free Carrier
FCL Full Container Load
Feeder Vessel/Lighter Barge Voyages
FEU 40 'Cabinet Type Fort Foot Equivalent Unit 40'
FMC Federal Maritime Commission
FOB Free On Board
General RateIncrease
Handling Charge for H/C agency fee
HBL Sub Bill of Lading House B/L
Inside Sales within I/S
IA Individual Price Adjustment Action
Letter of Credit
Land Bridge
LCL LCL LCL Less Than Container
Measurement Ton for LoadM/T size (i.e. goods are charged based on size)
Master Bill of Lading for MB/L Master Bill of Lading
MLB Small Land Bridge, from one port to another Minni Land Bridge
Mother Vessel
MTD Multimodal Transport Document
N/F notifier Notify
NVOCC Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier
Ocean Freight
OBL Ocean or Original B/L
OCP shippers arrange for transportation to Overland Continental Point on their own
OP Operation
P. P Prepaid
PCS Port Congestion Surcharge
POD Destination Port Of Destination
Port Of Loading
THC Terminal Handling Charges (collected in Hong Kong)
Total TTL
Time Volume Contract/Rate
VOCC Shipping Company Vessel Operating Common Carrier
W/M means to charge a high weight or measurement ton based on the weight or size ton
W/T weight ton (i.e. goods are charged by weight) Weight Ton
YAS Terminal Surcharges
PSS Peak Season Surcharges
S/(Shpr) Shipper
S/C Sales Contract
S/O Shipping Order
S/R Selling Rate S/S Spread Sheet Spread Sheet
SC Service Contract
SSL Shipping Company Steam Ship Line
T. O.C Terminal Operations Option
U. Terminal Receiving Charge
T/S transshipment
T/T Range Transit Time
TEU 20 'cabinet type Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit 20