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What is CIF?

August 29th, 2011 No comments

CIF means Cost, Insurance and Freight. This Incoterm (international commercial term) is also commonly referred to as DDP, which means Delivered Duty Paid to the destination port.

The supplier basically takes responsibility for the product from manufacturing, freight, customs and duty for the buyer. It normally works out a little more expensive for the buyer than if they were doing it themselves or FOB but it is an option many prefer as they don’t have to worry about the costs and hassle of the whole process.

If the buyer prefers this delivery method they should be sure to state it at the very beginning to the supplier. What normally happens is that the supplier will nominate their own shipping agent and deal with the process themselves.