Cost, Insurance and Freight

Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) is a common term in a sales contract that may be encountered in international trading when ocean transport is used. It must always indicate the port of destination, ie "CIF Shanghai."

When a price is quoted CIF, it means that the selling price includes the cost of the goods, the freight or transport costs and also the cost of marine insurance. CIF is an international commerce term (Incoterm).

CIF is identical in most particulars with Cost and Freight (CFR), and the same comments apply, including its applicability only to conventional maritime transport. Risk of loss of, or damage to, the goods is for the buyer, just as with CFR. However, in addition to the CFR responsibilities, the seller under CIF must obtain in transferable form a marine insurance policy to cover the buyer's risks of transit with insurers of repute. The policy must cover the CIF price plus 10 per cent and where possible be in the currency of the contract. Note that only very basic cover is required equivalent to the Institute "C" clauses, and buyers should normally insist on an "all-risk" type of policy such as that under the Institute "A" clauses. The seller's responsibility for the goods ends when the goods have been delivered on board the shipping vessel. In the guidelines for CIF published in Incoterms 2000 the term "carrier" does not appear and it clearly states "the seller must deliver the goods on board the vessel at the port of shipment" which makes CIF the incorrect term to use where the seller wishes their responsibility to end when they deliver the goods into the hands of a carrier prior to the goods passing the ship's rail at the port of loading. In the great majority of transactions the more correct term is CIP. This term is only appropriate for conventional maritime transport, not ro/ro or international container movements.

CIF ASWP (to be avoided)

Although not an incoterm, and not recognized by the International Chamber of Commerce, "ASWP" (Any Safe World Port) may be added as a separate article in a Purchase Contract, indicating that the supplier is responsible for insuring on behalf of the buyer until goods arrive and are unloaded at the port of destination. The opposite to this is FOB (Free On Board), which means the buyer is responsible for payment to the seller when the goods are loaded onto the ship at the port of origination. Terms outside of those defined in Incoterms 2000 should be strenuously avoided because they are not typically clearly defined in the contract between seller and buyer, thus leading to potential disputes.