Jul
14
Buy This Book or the ICC Will Kill a Kitten
Posted by Clif Burns at 9:02 pm on July 14, 2010
Category: INCOTERMS
It has begun. A press release from the U.S. Council For International Business (“USCIB”), the U.S. “arm” of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”), announced today day-long seminars, to be held everywhere from Pittsburgh to Omaha, on the “much anticipated” revisions to Incoterms that will become effective on January 1, 2011. Much anticipated, I think, mostly by the USCIB and the ICC for the most excellent revenue opportunity the revised Incoterms will provide to both organizations in seminar fees and sales of the new edition of Incoterms.
The press release claims that the changes are “sweeping” but provides little substantive detail about these changes. Who, after all, will buy the cow if the milk is given away? I’ve heard that the new edition will eliminate some of the distinctions between marine-only terms (like FOB and FCA FAS) and the other terms, but not much else. Readers are welcome to share in the comments section what they’ve heard.
Forgive me for being skeptical but I recall the sweeping changes between Incoterms 1990 and Incoterms 2000 which mostly consisted of changing the export clearance obligation under FAS from the buyer to the seller and the import clearance obligation under DEQ from the seller to the buyer. And for that the ICC wanted to get people to buy brand new copies of Incoterms. Now comes USCIB hoping to convince people to pay to shut themselves up in dank hotel conference rooms with weak coffee and stale sandwiches for a day-long seminar on the “sweeping” and “much anticipated” changes.
For those who want to learn about these changes from the comfort of their own ergonomic office chairs with the tasty beverages and snacks of their choice, this blog promises to post on the important new changes once the new edition of Incoterms is released. In all fairness, however, for those who don’t have much familiarity with Incoterms of any vintage, these seminars will present a good opportunity to learn about the usage and meaning of these increasingly important shipping terms.
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Copyright © 2010 Clif Burns. All Rights Reserved.
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6 Comments:
I got the email notice yesterday too, and commented why would I want to spend a whole day learning about what I alreay know most of. Why not a webinar explaining the changes?
Your otherwise amusing article shows FCA as a marine-only term. It is actually designed for use with all transport modes, and has been since its inception in 1990.
I suggest you get and read the book before commenting on changes you haven’t yet seen. Meanwhile, you might at least visit the ICC website http://www.iccwbo.org to learn how many new terms there are, their names, and whether they can be used for all modes.
You might also have mentioned the increased Incoterms(R) use in U.S. domestic trade, occasioned by the deletion of the former shipment and delivery terms from the UCC. This happened in 2004, after the 2000 revision, and the new version is designed to more easily accommodate domestic transactions.
Afer eleven multiple day drafting meetings analyzing over 2000 comments from a large number of ICC national committees, I reiterate that the changes are sweeping.
And yes, we hope that people will invest the time and cost to learn them correctly the first time.
I look forward to your usual tongue-in-cheek commentary on the new version, but please only after you’ve seen it.
Frank Reynolds
Your otherwise amusing article shows FCA as a marine-only term. It is actually designed for use with all transport modes, and has been since its inception in 1990.
FCA was a typo. I meant FAS, which is marine only. I’ve fixed the post showing the change.
I am planning on a follow-up post based on the materials released so far and will consult the source you’ve mentioned among others. I still think that if the changes are sweeping, a tiny taste of them in your press release would have been nice.
You might also have mentioned the increased Incoterms(R) use in U.S. domestic trade, occasioned by the deletion of the former shipment and delivery terms from the UCC. This happened in 2004, after the 2000 revision, and the new version is designed to more easily accommodate domestic transactions.
Well you might have mentioned, for that matter, that not one state has actually adopted these revisions and that the UCC domestic shipping terms are still alive and well in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Only three states have even considered adopting the 2003 revisions of Article 2 of the UCC. Oklahoma adopted a few of the changes in Article 2 but not the substitution of Incoterms for the UCC domestic terms. In the two other states, Kansas and Nevada, the legislation died an unceremonious death and shows little hope of resurrection.
Didn’t mean to imply that Incoterms would find their way into law. The UCC revision made no such recommendation, it simply deleted 2-319 through 2-324. Incoterms strength is that they are not law. (Closest they come is that UNCITRAL deferred to previous versions and presumably will do so for 2010.) Incoterms are written to REFLECT current trade practice, not dictate it.
The 2004 UCC revision was huge, and portions attracted opposition from NAM and the US Chamber. My understanding that their concern was with other aspects rather than the shipment/delivery terms deletion.
There is considerable interest on the part of some major U.S. companies in using Incoterms in domestic transactions regardless of their state laws. These companies import, export and do business here. The problems in juggling two entirely different sets of terms – some with similar names and abbreviations and different meanings – make standardizing on one set very attractive. Which do you think they will choose?
Back to the tenor of your posting, you will be surprised at the extent of the sweeping changes. And I love cats.
The day long seminar will be well worth the time and money. Your comment that for those who don’t have much familiarity with Incoterms of any vintage, these seminars will present a good opportunity to learn about the usage and meaning of these increasingly important shipping terms, covers 99% of the people who already use Incoterms but are very confused even about issues that haven’t changed, such as title tranfer. This will be a good opportunity to educate them with the basics as well.
Let the education begin!
Mr. Becker also gives Incoterm seminars so it’s extremely nice of him to endorse competing seminars. Here’s a link to Roy Becker Seminars
