incotermsen.docx

1、incotermsenINTRODUCTION1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF INCOTERMS The purpose of Incoterms is to provide a set of international rules for the interpretation of the most commonly used trade terms in foreign trade. Thus, the uncertainties of different interpretations of such terms in different countries can be

2、 avoided or at least reduced to a considerable degree. Frequently, parties to a contract are unaware of the different trading practices in their respective countries. This can give rise to misunderstandings, disputes and litigation诉讼, 起诉 with all the waste of time and money that this entails承担，伴随. I

3、n order to remedy改正；清除：改正；去掉 these problems the International Chamber of Commerce first published in 1936 a set of international rules for the interpretation of trade terms. These rules were known as Incoterms 1936. Amendments and additions were later made in 1953, 1967, 1976, 1980, 1990 and present

4、ly in 2000 in order to bring the rules in line with current international trade practices. It should be stressed that the scope of Incoterms is limited to matters relating to the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract of sale with respect to the delivery of goods sold (in the sense of

5、 tangibles, not including intangibles无形的 such as computer software). It appears that two particular misconceptions about Incoterms are very common. First, Incoterms are frequently misunderstood as applying to the contract of carriage rather than to the contract of sale. Second, they are sometimes wr

6、ongly assumed to provide for all the duties which parties may wish to include in a contract of sale. As has always been underlined by ICC, Incoterms deal only with the relation between sellers and buyers under the contract of sale, and, moreover, only do so in some very distinct respects. While it i

7、s essential for exporters and importers to consider the very practical relationship between the various contracts needed to perform an international sales transaction - where not only the contract of sale is required, but also contracts of carriage, insurance and financing - Incoterms relate to only

8、 one of these contracts, namely即, 也就是 the contract of sale. Nevertheless, the parties agreement to use a particular Incoterm would necessarily have implications for the other contracts. To mention a few examples, a seller having agreed to a CFR - or CIF -contract cannot perform such a contract by an

9、y other mode of transport than carriage by sea, since under these terms he must present a bill of lading or other maritime document to the buyer which is simply not possible if other modes of transport are used. Furthermore, the document required under a documentary credit would necessarily depend u

10、pon the means of transport intended to be used. Second, Incoterms deal with a number of identified obligations imposed on the parties - such as the sellers obligation to place the goods at the disposal of the buyer or hand them over for carriage or deliver them at destination - and with the distribu

11、tion of risk between the parties in these cases. Further, they deal with the obligations to clear the goods for export and import, the packing of the goods, the buyers obligation to take delivery as well as the obligation to provide proof that the respective obligations have been duly fulfilled. Alt

12、hough Incoterms are extremely important for the implementation of the contract of sale, a great number of problems which may occur in such a contract are not dealt with at all, like transfer of ownership and other property rights, breaches违背, 破坏 of contract and the consequences following from such b

13、reaches as well as exemptions from liability in certain situations. It should be stressed that Incoterms are not intended to replace such contract terms that are needed for a complete contract of sale either by the incorporation of standard terms or by individually negotiated terms. Generally, Incot

14、erms do not deal with the consequences of breach of contract and any exemptions from liability owing to various impediments. These questions must be resolved by other stipulations in the contract of sale and the applicable law. Incoterms have always been primarily intended for use where goods are so

15、ld for delivery across national boundaries: hence, international commercial terms. However, Incoterms are in practice at times also incorporated into contracts for the sale of goods within purely domestic markets. Where Incoterms are so used, the A2 and B2 clauses and any other stipulation of other

16、articles dealing with export and import do, of course, become redundant. 多余的 2. WHY REVISIONS OF INCOTERMS? The main reason for successive revisions of Incoterms has been the need to adapt them to contemporary commercial practice. Thus, in the 1980 revision the term Free Carrier (now FCA) was introd

17、uced in order to deal with the frequent case where the reception point in maritime trade was no longer the traditional FOB-point (passing of the ships rail) but rather a point on land, prior to loading on board a vessel, where the goods were stowed into a container for subsequent transport by sea or

18、 by different means of transport in combination (so-called combined or multimodal transport). Further, in the 1990 revision of Incoterms, the clauses dealing with the sellers obligation to provide proof of delivery permitted a replacement of paper documentation by EDI-messages provided the parties h

19、ad agreed to communicate electronically. Needless to say不必说, efforts are constantly made to improve upon the at the sellers own premises (the E-term Ex works); followed by the drafting and presentation of Incoterms in order to facilitate their practical implementation. 3. INCOTERMS 2000 During the p

20、rocess of revision, which has taken about two years, ICC has done its best to invite views and responses to successive drafts from a wide ranging spectrum of world traders, represented as these various sectors are on the national committees through which ICC operates. Indeed, it has been gratifying悦

21、人的, 令人满足的 to see that this revision process has attracted far more reaction from users around the world than any of the previous revisions of Incoterms. The result of this dialogue is Incoterms 2000, a version which when compared with Incoterms 1990 may appear to have effected few changes. It is cle

22、ar, however, that Incoterms now enjoy world wide recognition and ICC has therefore decided to consolidate upon that recognition and avoid change for its own sake. On the other hand, serious efforts have been made to ensure that the wording 措辞；用语used in Incoterms 2000 clearly and accurately reflects

23、trade practice. Moreover, substantive changes have been made in two areas: the customs clearance and payment of duty obligations under FAS and DEQ; and the loading and unloading obligations under FCA. All changes, whether substantive or formal have been made on the basis of thorough research among u

24、sers of Incoterms and particular regard has been given to queries received since 1990 by the Panel of Incoterms Experts, set up as an additional service to the users of Incoterms. 4. INCORPORATION OF INCOTERMS INTO THE CONTRACT OF SALE In view of the changes made to Incoterms from time to time, it i

25、s important to ensure that where the parties intend to incorporate Incoterms into their contract of sale, an express reference is always made to the current version of Incoterms. This may easily be overlooked when, for example, a reference has been made to an earlier version in standard contract for

26、ms or in order forms used by merchants. A failure to refer to the current version may then result in disputes as to whether the parties intended to incorporate that version or an earlier version as a part of their contract. Merchants wishing to use Incoterms 2000 should therefore clearly specify tha

27、t their contract is governed by Incoterms 2000. 5. THE STRUCTURE OF INCOTERMS In 1990, for ease of understanding, the terms were grouped in four basically different categories; namely starting with the term whereby the seller only makes the goods available to the buyer at the sellers own premises (t

28、he E-term Ex works); followed by the second group whereby the seller is called upon to deliver the goods to a carrier appointed by the buyer (the F-terms FCA, FAS and FOB); continuing with the C-terms where the seller has to contract for carriage, but without assuming the risk of loss of or damage t

29、o the goods or additional costs due to events occurring after shipment and dispatch (CFR, CIF, CPT and CIP); and, finally, the D-terms whereby the seller has to bear all costs and risks needed to bring the goods to the place of destination (DAF, DES, DEQ, DDU and DDP). The following chart sets out t

30、his classification of the trade terms. INCOTERMS 2000Group EDepartureEXW Ex Works Group F Main carriage unpaid FCA Free Carrier (. named place)FAS Free Alongside Ship (.named port of shipment)FOB Free On Board (. named port of shipment)Group Main carriage paidCFR Cost and Freight (. named port of de

31、stination)CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight (. named port of destination) CPT Carriage Paid To (. named place of destination)CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid To (. named place of destination) Group DArrival DAF Delivered At Frontier (. named place)DES Delivered Ex Ship (. named port of destination)DEQ

32、Delivered Ex Quay (. named port of destination)DDU Delivered Duty Unpaid (. named place of destination)DDP Delivered Duty Paid (. named place of destination) Further, under all terms, as in Incoterms 1990, the respective obligations of the parties have been grouped under 10 headings where each heading on the sellers side mirrors the position of the buyer with respect to the same subject matter. 6. TERMINOLOGY While