Understanding Incoterms® references in observed trade activity
Delivery terms appear throughout this register because sources state them. Ponte records them and does not interpret them, and the difference is worth understanding before you rely on one.
This is an explanation Ponte wrote, not a record Ponte observed. Figures quoted in it are counted from the register at the time you load the page. Last revised 9 Sep 2026.
What Ponte does with a delivery term
When a source states a delivery term, Ponte records it as a field on the record and reproduces it exactly. It is not normalised, not expanded, not corrected and not interpreted.
Of 3,917 current records, 3,668 state a delivery term. Ponte will not offer a record for indexing unless it states either a delivery term or a quantity, because a record with neither gives a reader nothing to act on.
What Ponte deliberately does not do
Ponte does not publish the Incoterms® rules, does not paraphrase them, and does not tell you what obligations a given term creates. The rules are published by the International Chamber of Commerce, the text is ICC copyright, and "Incoterms" is a registered ICC trademark.
This is not caution for its own sake. A paraphrase of a delivery-term obligation that is subtly wrong is worse than no paraphrase at all, because it will be relied on. The authoritative text is available from ICC and should be read there.
A stated term is a claim, not a contract
A term appearing on an observed record tells you what one party said they wanted. It does not mean a contract exists, that the other side agreed, or that the party understood the term correctly.
Misused delivery terms are common in public trade postings — terms applied to the wrong mode of transport, or used as a rough synonym for "you arrange shipping". Read a stated term as evidence of intent and of the counterparty's sophistication, not as a settled allocation of risk.
Why the version matters
ICC revises the rules periodically, and a term can carry different obligations between editions. An observed record rarely states which edition the party had in mind, and Ponte does not infer one.
In an actual contract the edition is named explicitly. In an observed record it almost never is, which is another reason a stated term should not be read as a settled position.
Sources
Where this guide relies on somebody else’s authority, it says so and links to them rather than restating their work.
- ICC — Incoterms® rules — The authoritative source. Ponte links rather than reproduces: the rules text is ICC copyright.
- ICC — Incoterms® trademark and copyright policy — ICC's stated policy on use of the mark, which this site follows.
Incoterms® and the Incoterms® 2020 logo are trademarks of ICC. Use of these trademarks does not imply association with, approval of or sponsorship by ICC.
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