Incoterms rule
DAP — Delivered at Place
DAP is a delivered term: the seller brings the goods to the named destination. Two things it does not include — unloading and import clearance — cause most of the trouble.
What DAP covers
Under DAP the seller arranges and pays for carriage all the way to a place the parties name in the destination country, and carries the exposure of the journey there. It works with any mode and with movements that combine several. For a buyer, it is close to what most people mean when they say they want goods delivered.
Close, but not identical, and the difference is where the value of understanding the term lies.
Ready for unloading, not unloaded
The goods arrive on the arriving means of transport and are made available there. Taking them off it is the buyer's job. That is a small distinction on paper and a large one at a site with no dock leveller, no forklift, or a single item too heavy to handle by hand.
If the intention is that the seller's side takes the goods off the vehicle, DPU is the rule written for that. Choosing DAP and then expecting the driver to unload is a recipe for a vehicle standing at a gate while two companies argue over a task neither priced.
Import formalities stay with the buyer
DAP is not a duty-paid term. Import clearance, any duties and taxes, and any licence or permit the goods require on entry are the buyer's responsibility. The seller delivers to the named place; it does not act as importer.
This is usually the right allocation, because the buyer is normally the party established in the destination country and therefore the party that can act there. It also means the seller depends on the buyer performing that clearance promptly, and that dependency needs to be recognised.
Naming the place with enough precision
As with the other delivered terms, a city name is not enough. A named street address, a named warehouse, a named terminal — anything that identifies a single physical point where a vehicle can present itself. Vagueness here converts into waiting time, re-delivery and a dispute about who pays for both.
Where the destination site has access constraints — restricted hours, limited vehicle size, no equipment for unloading — those should be stated when the term is agreed rather than discovered on arrival.
Waiting time and a slow clearance
The buyer's clearance sits between the goods arriving in the country and the goods being delivered. If it is slow, costs accrue: storage, demurrage or detention on equipment, waiting time for a vehicle. The rule allocates delivery, not the consequences of delay by either side in every situation, so the sale contract should say who bears those costs.
What is required to clear goods, how long it takes and what documentation an authority expects vary by shipment, commodity, jurisdiction and trade lane. Confirm them for the specific movement with the relevant authority or an appointed customs representative rather than assuming they match a previous consignment.
In practice
What this means for a shipment.
- The rule's intent is that the seller carries the goods to the named place in the destination country and makes them available there; the sale contract governs the parties
- Unloading at the destination is not included — DPU is the rule that includes it
- Import clearance, duties and taxes remain with the buyer under this rule
- Export formalities in the country of departure sit with the seller
- Name a precise destination point, and state any site access or equipment constraints when the term is agreed
- Agree in the contract who bears storage, waiting and equipment detention costs caused by a delay at the destination
- Insurance is not required of either party by the rule, which does not mean the goods should travel uninsured
An original explanation for a commercial readership. The International Chamber of Commerce publishes the authoritative Incoterms text, retains copyright in it, and revises the rules periodically; check the current ICC edition and record the version in the contract.
Use the reference
Apply the definition to the actual contract and shipment.
A reference explains the role of a rule or document. The applicable edition, terms and requirements still need to be confirmed for the case.
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