Latest Update on Incoterms 2010

Frank Reynolds, the U.S. Delegate to the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) Incoterms Committee, has provided International Trade Law News with another update on the status of the revisions currently underway to Incoterms 2000, the standardized trade terms commonly used in international sales contracts.

Mr. Reynolds has advised that the ICC Incoterms Committee's third proposed draft of Incoterms 2010 led to 51 single spaced pages of comments from 23 countries. Those comments were reviewed and the fourth proposed draft was completed in late March. The fourth draft will be submitted to the ICC's Commercial Law and Practice (CLP) Commission in May, the first step in the approval process.

If the draft proposal makes it through the CLP, it will continue through the approval process to the ICC’s Executive Board which is scheduled to meet in September 2010. If all goes well, Incoterms 2010 will be released shortly thereafter with an anticipated effective date of January 1, 2011. If the new version is not approved, it will be sent back to the drafting committee for further work.

As previously reported, the new version of Incoterms will be entitled “Incoterms 2010”, reflecting the release date rather than the date they come into force.

The ICC introduced the first version of Incoterms, short for "International Commercial Terms," in 1936. There are currently 13 Incoterms. Incoterms have been revised six times in order to reflect international trade developments.

Frank Reynolds is the author of several publications, including Incoterms for Americans, a useful publication for U.S. exporters and importers, which will be revised following the publication of Incoterms 2010.