UNDERSTAND WHO HAS RESPONSIBILITY FOR U.S. CUSTOMS ENTRY DECLARATIONS:
DDP is the only INCOTERM where the Seller has responsibility for U.S. Customs entry declarations.
IMPORTANT NOTE: An important factor to be considered when asking the Seller to be responsible for international carriage, is if the goods ship by Ocean Freight, an Importer Security Filing (ISF) must be electronically submitted to Customs 24 hours before the cargo is laden on the vessel bringing the cargo to the U.S. The Buyer should specify in the contract either (a) the shipper is responsible for the ISF or (b) the Seller is responsible for providing the required data in a timely manner (i.e. 72 hrs before lading) to the Buyer’s appointed agent (e.g. Customs Broker). In practice, when the broker and the international forwarder are unrelated parties, this requirement is honored more in the breach than in the observance. The Buyer responsible for customs entry should indemnify against the penalties (US$5,000) for filing a late, inaccurate or incomplete ISF. The ISF does not apply at this time to airfreight shipments
DETERMINE THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBILITY
When CPT, CIP, CFR or CIF are used the Seller fulfills its obligation to deliver when it hands the goods over to the carrier, not when the goods reach the place of destination.
DAT, DAP and DDP the Seller fulfills its obligation to deliver at the named destination. The Seller has no obligation to provide transit status updates.