What does DDU mean?

Emergency Logistics Glossary

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What does DDU mean?

Delivered Duty Unpaid, DDU for short, was a clause in the Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) until 2010. In the new, revised version the term was omitted, but is still in use today. In many instances DDU is replaced by Delivered At Place (DAP) or Delivered At Terminal (DAT).

Delivery without the customs formalities

Delivered Duty Unpaid means that the seller of a product ships it to an agreed-upon place and has all the costs and risks during the shipping – but he doesn’t have to bother with the customs formalities. This is the responsibility of the buyer. He must take care of the customs procedures and must pay custom duties, taxes and other fees.

Duties of the seller:

  • enclose the invoice and documentation
  • packaging of the products
  • care for export license, export duties and export formalities
  • transport to the actual means of transportation
  • fees for the loading of the products
  • transport
  • delivery to a previously detailed destination
  • proof of delivery

Duties of the buyer:

  • import formalities, import tariffs and taxes
  • costs of all inspections
  • unloading of the wares
  • further transport, if necessary

Precise specifications are important

In case that DDU is still used instead of DAP and DAT, it is important to make specifications as detailed as possible. This is especially important for the place of delivery. This way legal dispute is avoided. If you have additional agreements to the DDU clause, they should also be as precise as possible.

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