Search This Blog

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Incoterms - DDU

Incoterms - DDU

DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) is a Multimodal term that must be further qualified by specifying the place up to which the seller is taking responsibility for transport costs and the risks of transit. This is excluding the payment of domestic duties and the ancillary clearance charges associated with the import process at destination.

As with all of the D prefixed terms, this term is not easy to use in conjunction with a Documentary Credit. As a multimodal term, DDU requires the use of Multimodal transport documents over any traditional monomial documents such as Bills of Lading or Airway bills.

DDU will often financially correlate to CPT. However, DDU represents CPT without the disadvantages of placing risks on the buyer which have no control. (See CPT)

From the seller's perspective, DDU reverses the risk advantages of CPT, placing all risks with the seller until the cargo arrives at the named port.

Sellers are cautioned if the intended transit is beyond the point of entry in the country of destination, then their ability to move the goods to the final destination may be dependent on the buyer's ability prior to clear the cargo through the customs authority. The possibility of delays in transit and any resultant storage charges (should the buyer fail to conduct clearance in good time), should be noted.

Sellers should be equally aware of additional charges which may be due for payment resultant from local taxes which do not fall into the category of 'duty', but are nevertheless payable prior to release.

DDU (and DDP) correlates closely to the generic expressions of 'free domicile' and 'free house', which are frequently used in the transport industry. Each should be avoided due to their ambiguous nature.

The delivery of goods and the cargo insurance to the final point at destination, which is often the project site or buyer's premises, at seller's expense. Buyer assumes the import customs clearance and payment of customs duties and taxes. The seller may opt not to insure the goods at his/her own risks.
In the export quotation, indicate the point of destination (discharge) after the acronym DDU, for example DDU La Paz and DDU Ndjamena.

No comments: