Glossary

To help you understand terms that your customs broker will mostly use, GAAC Customs Brokerage has listed below some common terms:

Incoterms
Incoterms or international commercial terms are a series of international sales terms that are widely used throughout the world. They are used to divide transaction costs and responsibilities between buyer and seller and reflect state-of-the-art transportation practices. They closely correspond to the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Incoterms deal with the questions related to the delivery of the products from the seller to the buyer. This includes the carriage of products, export and import clearance responsibilities, who pays for what, and who has risk for the condition of the products at different locations within the transport process. Incoterms are always used with a geographical location and do not deal with transfer of title. They are devised and published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The English text is the original and official version of Incoterms 2000, which have been endorsed by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Authorized translations into 31 languages are available from ICC national committees.
Ex Works (EXW)
Is an Incoterm. It means that the seller X has the goods ready for collection at his premises (Works, factory, warehouse, plant) on the date agreed upon. The buyer pays all transportation costs and also bears the risks for bringing the goods to their final destination. This term requires that the buyer must be able to carry out export formalities in the country of supply, these days almost impossible. Therefore in the vast majority of cases where terms are quoted EXW they actually intend the seller to carry out export formalities which means that the correct term is FCA (Seller's premises).
Free Carrier (FCA)
Is an Incoterm. The seller delivers the goods into the custody of the first carrier, and this is where risk passes from seller to buyer. The buyer pays for the transportation. It can be used for all modes of transportation including multimodal transport, such as in shipping containers where the ship's rail plays no relevant part in determining a shipping point. FCA is also the term to use in place of FOB for airfreight transactions.
Free Along Side (FAS)
Is an Incoterm. It means that the seller pays for transportation of the goods to the port of shipment. The buyer pays loading costs, freight, insurance, unloading costs and transportation from the port of destination to his factory. The passing of risk occurs when the goods have been delivered to the quay at the port of shipment.
Free On Board or Freight on Board (FOB)
Is a term commonly used when shipping goods, to indicate who pays loading and transportation costs, and/or the point at which the responsibility and ownership of the goods transfers from shipper to buyer. The precise meaning of the term FOB varies.
Cost and Freight (CFR)
Is an Incoterm. It means that the seller pays for transportation to the Port of Loading (POL), loading and freight. The buyer pays for the insurance and transportation of the goods from the Port of Discharge (POD) to his factory. The passing of risk occurs when the goods pass the ship's rail at the port of shipment which means that this term cannot be used for airfreight or land transport and also is inappropriate for most containerised sea shipments - the term CPT is the appropriate one for these.
Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF)
Is a common term in a sales contract that may be encountered in international trading when ocean transport is used. When a price is quoted CIF, it means that the selling price includes the cost of the goods, the freight or transport costs and also the cost of marine insurance. CIF is an international commerce term (Incoterm).
Carriage Paid To (CPT)
Is an Incoterm. It can be used for all modes of transport including multimodal transport. The seller pays for the freight to the named point of destination. The buyer pays for the insurance. The passing of risk occurs when the goods have been delivered into the custody of the first carrier.
Carriage and Insurance Paid to (CIP)
Is an Incoterm. The passing of risk occurs when the goods have been delivered into the custody of the first carrier. This means that the buyer bears all risk and any additional costs occurring after the goods have been so delivered.It is the same as CPT except that the seller also pays for the insurance. Seller is required to obtain insurance only on minimum cover, additional coverage is responsibility of buyer or must be agreed between seller and buyer. Under CIP seller is also required to clear the goods for export.
Delivered At Frontier (DAF)
Is an Incoterm. It can be used when the goods are transported by rail and road. The seller pays for transportation to the named place of delivery at the frontier. The buyer arranges for customs clearance and pays for transportation from the frontier to his factory. The passing of risk occurs at the frontier.
1Delivered Ex Ship (DES)
Is an Incoterm. Where goods are delivered ex ship, the passing of risk does not occur until the ship has arrived at the named port of destination and the goods made available for unloading to the buyer. The seller pays the same freight and insurance costs as he would under a CIF arrangement.
Delivered Ex Quay (DEQ)
Is an Incoterm. It means the same as DES, but the passing of risk does not occur until the goods have been unloaded at the port of destination.
Delivered Duty Unpaid (DDU)
Is an Incoterm. It means that the seller delivers the goods to the buyer to the named placed of destination in the contract of sale. The goods are not cleared for import or unloaded from any form of transport at the place of destination. The buyer is responsible for the costs and risks for the unloading, duty and any subsequent delivery beyond the place of destination. However, if the buyer wishes the seller to bare cost and risks associated with the import clearance, duty, unloading and subsequent delivery beyond the place of destination, then this all needs to be explicitly agreed upon in the contract of sale. The term is used irrespective of the mode of transport. However when the delivery is to take place at the port of destination, either on board the vessel or on the quay, then the DES or DEQ terms shall be used.
Delivered Duty Paid (DDP)
Is an Incoterm. It means that the seller pays for all transportation costs and bears all risk until the goods have been delivered and pays the duty.
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS)
Harmonized System of tariff nomenclature is an internationally standardized system of names and numbers for classifying traded products developed and maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO) (formerly the Customs Co-operation Council), an independent intergovernmental organization with over 160 member countries based in Brussels, Belgium. The HS is a six-digit nomenclature. Individual countries have extended it to ten digits for customs purposes, and to 8 digits for export purposes. Almost 200 countries, representing about 98% of world trade, use the HS as a basis for:
  • Customs tariffs
  • Collection of international trade statistics
  • Rules of origin
  • Collection of internal taxes
  • Trade negotiations (e.g., the World Trade Organization schedules of tariff concessions)
  • Transport tariffs and statistics
  • Monitoring of controlled goods (e.g., wastes, narcotics, chemical weapons, ozone layer depleting substances, endangered species)
  • Areas of Customs controls and procedures, including risk assessment, information technology and compliance.
Codes have been revised through the years. So if it's necessary to reference a code related to a trade issue from even a few years ago, one has to make sure the definition set being used matches the code.
Tariff
An official list or table showing the duties or customs imposed by a government on imports or exports. the schedule or system of duties so imposed.