All Incoterms 2020 rules

DPU Delivered at Place Unloaded

The only rule where the seller must unload the goods at the destination.

Any mode of transport

DPU is DAP taken one step further: the seller delivers to the named place and unloads the goods there, and only then is delivery complete. It is the single rule of the eleven under which unloading at destination is the seller’s obligation, which means the seller must be sure it can actually do it — with the right equipment, at that place. Import clearance and duty remain the buyer’s.

Track a shipment
Risk passes at
Unloaded at destination
Export clearance
Seller
Import duty & taxes
Buyer
Cargo insurance
Not required

The journey, stage by stage

Every stage of the shipment in order, and who pays for it.

  1. 1 Packing the goods for export Seller pays
  2. 2 Loading onto the collecting vehicle Seller pays
  3. 3 Inland carriage to the port or terminal Seller pays
  4. 4 Export customs formalities Seller pays
  5. 5 Terminal handling at origin Seller pays
  6. 6 Loading onto the main carrier Seller pays
  7. 7 The international freight Seller pays
  8. 8 Terminal handling at destination Seller pays
  9. 9 Import customs, duty and taxes Buyer pays
  10. 10 Inland carriage to the final destination Seller pays
  11. 11 Unloading at the final destination Seller pays
  12. Risk passes to the buyer Once the goods have been unloaded from the arriving vehicle at the named place of destination.

What the seller does

  • Pack the goods, clear them for export and contract the whole carriage.
  • Carry the risk to the named place — and through the unloading.
  • Unload the goods from the arriving vehicle.
  • Help the buyer with import formalities at the buyer’s cost and risk.

What the buyer does

  • Clear the goods for import and pay duty, VAT and taxes.
  • Take delivery once the goods are unloaded.
  • Take the risk from that moment.

Use it when

  • Delivery to a terminal, a quay or a container yard where unloading is part of the service anyway.
  • Project cargo the seller is equipped to set down.
  • Sales where the buyer has no handling equipment of its own.

Watch out for

  • Do not sell DPU to a place where you cannot unload. If the seller has no crane, no forklift and no right of access, the obligation is still the seller’s — DAP is the rule to use instead.
  • The goods are unloaded but not customs-cleared; they are the buyer’s to import.

DPU replaced DAT (Delivered at Terminal) in the 2020 edition. The change was more than a name: the destination is now any place, not only a terminal.

Compare with

DAP Delivered at Place DDP Delivered Duty Paid CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid To

Sources for this page

Every payer cell on these pages was checked against several published references, and the two cells those references disagree on are drawn as “per contract” rather than resolved by picking a side. This is a summary for orientation, not legal advice — the contract and the ICC text govern.

  1. Incoterms® 2020 International Chamber of Commerce

    The rules themselves. The authoritative text is ICC publication no. 723E, which is not free — this page is a summary of it, not a copy.

  2. Incoterms Wikipedia

    Risk transfer point, export and import clearance and the insurance clauses for each of the eleven rules; the 2010 to 2020 changes; what the rules do not cover.

Selling or buying on DPU terms? Follow the shipment from handover to arrival — whoever holds the number can track it.

Track a shipment

DPU FAQ

DPU is DAP taken one step further: the seller delivers to the named place and unloads the goods there, and only then is delivery complete. It is the single rule of the eleven under which unloading at destination is the seller’s obligation, which means the seller must be sure it can actually do it — with the right equipment, at that place. Import clearance and duty remain the buyer’s.

Risk passes to the buyer once the goods have been unloaded from the arriving vehicle at the named place of destination.

The seller pays the whole journey and the unloading; only import duty is the buyer’s. Export clearance is the seller’s and import duty and taxes are the buyer’s. Neither side is obliged to insure the cargo.

Whoever contracted the carriage holds the transport document, and its number is what a lookup needs. Enter a bill of lading, booking or container number in the container tracking app, an air waybill in the air cargo tracker, or make the same lookup one REST call with the API reference.

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