5.2.2 The “F”Group—FCA,FAS,FOB F组——货交承运人、船边交货、船上交货

5.2.2 The “F”Group—FCA,FAS,FOB F组——货交承运人、船边交货、船上交货

If you don’t want to assume too many responsibilities or risks with logistics,you can adopt the “F”group—FCA,FAS and FOB,because you only need to deliver the goods at a specified place in your country in the specified way.FCA is suitable for any mode or modes of transport,while FAS and FOB are just for sea and inland waterway transport.See Table 5-4 for a comparison of their applicability and distribution of obligations and risks between the importer and the exporter.

Under FCA,you fulfill your responsibilities for delivery as long as you transfer the cargo to the carrier by placing it at his/her disposal at the specified place.This place has to be specified as clearly as possible because risks pass to the importer at this point.You are free ofresponsibilities for the goods in transit once you place the goods at disposal of the carrier,hence the name.Delivering to the carrier is equivalent to delivering to the importer.A modification of this rule in Incoterms 2020 compared with Incoterms 2010 is that it now provides the additional option to make an on-board notation on the bill of lading prior loading of the goods on a vessel.

Table 5-4 The “F”Group—FCA,FAS,FOB F组——货交承运人、船边交货、船上交货

Under FAS,as the name indicates,you must deliver the cargo alongside the ship.Please note,however,the word “alongside”is used literally here—you must move the cargo truly “alongside”the ship.Landing a container at the container yard is not “alongside”the ship,as a container yard normally covers a vast area at the port,which makes FAS effectively not appropriate for containerized cargoes.In another situation,where the ship is not immediately by the dock,to move your cargo “alongside”the ship,you need to use a barge to forward the cargo from dock to ship.To sum up,until the cargo is truly alongside the ship,your responsibilities and risks remain.Should the cargo break,catch fire,or fall into the sea before being alongside the ship,you are held responsible for it.

Under FOB,your responsibilities and risks extend further until youmove the cargo on board the ship.Once the cargo is so delivered,risks transfer to the importer and you are free.But like FAS,it has the same problem with containerized goods—containers are required to be placed at the container yard.However,as loading a ship is normally arranged by the port,you cannot see to the goods being truly moved “on board”.So,if this term is used for containerized goods anyway,please watch for risks in the link from delivering to the carrier to moving the cargo truly “on board”.Otherwise,use another term such as FCA for safety and convenience.