Nine years on from the last revision, the Incoterms 2020 text has a very different layout and style of presentation.
However there are very few significant changes to the rules themselves
Incoterms 2020 features many changes to the sequencing and presentation of the rules, and a welcome expansion of the explanatory notes.
However there have been very few substantive changes from the Incoterms 2010 revision.
There are still eleven rules. They are still divided into four “water” rules and seven rules that can be used with any transport mode.
No rules have been removed or added, but one rule has been renamed!
The main differences between Incoterms 2020 and Incoterms 2010 are:
Implications for commercial practice
The authors of the Incoterms 2020 revision have clearly intended to make it an effective teaching document as well as a reference work.
However the very limited changes from Incoterms 2010 do not provide much incentive for its adoption, especially where the 2010 revision has been incorporated into complex trading agreements.
As always, trading partners remain free to adopt the Incoterms revision of their choice by specifying it in their commercial contracts.
On the positive side, organisations who have already established a good Incoterms 2010 practice will not need to undertake a major retraining exercise for Incoterms 2020
Mantissa’s Incoterms 2020 training
We now have the “2020” version of our “Introduction to Incoterms rules” course – follow this link for details
Incoterms 2010 will continue to be important for some years to come, so the new course does not ignore it! At the appropriate places, we identify the points where it differs from Incoterms 2020.
Students will therefore be well placed to work with both revisions.
For more details of our training plans, please send us a message
Roger Kreitman
Principal Consultant
Mantissa Limited
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