Incoterms 2020 Handbook: Effecting Deliveries in Challenging Times

The internationally accepted trade terms known as Incoterms constitute a key instrument for supply chain management. Although the terms have been used worldwide in contracts of sale for nearly a century, there is surprisingly little practical legal guidance on how to use them properly to avoid mishaps and unnecessary disputes. This book – by an expert who has been active in the formal interpretation, drafting and application of the various versions of the Incoterms since the 1990s – thoroughly explains for sophisticated users the framing and implications of each term in the complex international trade and transport environment where English is the lingua franca.

Fully detailing the use of Incoterms® 2020 in contracts of sale, interacting with contracts of transport, insurance, and finance, the author provides in-depth descriptions and analyses of each of the 11 Incoterms® 2020 in the logistical order of a sales transaction, along with practical notes about the use of each term. Issues covered include the following:

• at which stage of a supply chain the delivery of the goods takes place;

• when the risk of loss or damage to the goods passes from seller to buyer;

• how to treat delay from the risk point of view not expressly addressed by Incoterms® 2020;

• who contracts for or arranges carriage and who procures insurance;

• role of transport documents and other delivery documents and their electronic equivalents;

• clearing through customs, licences, authorizations, security clearances, and other formalities;

• checking, packaging, and marking of the goods;

• how the costs involved in delivery operations are divided between seller and buyer;

• delivery implications relating to other parts of the contract of sale;

• special deliveries with insight into container deliveries, deliveries of large objects, dangerous goods, deliveries including installations, deliveries through pipelines, deliveries of software, intra-group deliveries, courier deliveries and the interface with consumer law;

• challenges caused by logistic bottlenecks such as those deriving from the COVID-19 pandemic;

• consequences of delay in delivery;

• economic sanctions; and

• use of force majeure and hardship clauses.

The presentation is richly supported with many illustrations and charts and numerous case studies.

Managers or professionals responsible for sales or procurement or logistics in sale of goods, including transport, freight forwarding, and marine insurance, will greatly benefit from the book’s practical guidance, as will in-house lawyers, accountants, surveyors, and other experts involved in concluding sales contracts or settling disputes in connection with them. Academics and students concerned with commercial subjects will appreciate the author’s detailed and knowledgeable treatment of the subject.