The seller and the buyer may have agreed on some Incoterms term of delivery which would cover their mutual obligations. However, they would like to improve it by an amendment to meet the needs of the parties. Is such amendment or a variant of the term allowed?
As a main rule, amendments to the term of delivery are not recommended. The term cannot be interpreted as an Incoterms term of delivery, if it is essentially changed.
If parties, however, want to amend an Incoterms term of delivery, they should consider few things
- is the amendment really necessary?
- does the intended amendment fit to the term? This concerns especially delivery/taking delivery and transfer of risk
- do both parties and possible third parties understand the amendment in the same way?
The seller and the buyer may also want to add something to the term of delivery. Because Incoterms is made to fit into many kind of any international trade of goods, the wording of the terms cannot be very specific or detailed. Parties may define the exact division of costs of formalities. For the sake of clarity the addition should be written after the reference to Incoterms.