DAPDelivered at Place

DAP is the first term on the list where the seller's risk travels with the goods all the way to your side. You unload, you clear import, you pay the duty. From India it's quoted less often than it should be, and priced higher than it should be when it is.

It's also the term where people assume "delivered" means "sorted", and that's the assumption this page is about. The seller carries the goods to your door, but anything your own border does to them on arrival is still yours. The rules quoted are Incoterms 2020, in force since 1 January 2020, and as of 28 September 2026 the ICC has published no newer edition.

The Fumigation Certificate That Stopped Counting

In July 2026 Australia's agriculture department audited offshore treatment providers in India and suspended a batch of them (DAFF, Industry Advice Notice 118-2026 (opens in a new tab)). The counts in the press disagree. Indian reports said 44 providers, while the notice is reported as naming 13 suspended or withdrawn. What didn't disagree was the effect. Cargo treated by a suspended provider needs approved treatment again on arrival, and Australian fumigators said "many importers and freight forwarders may now require approved onshore treatment arrangements" (LinkedIn, Australian fumigator, July 2026). One biosecurity consultant put the lesson in one line - "Having a treatment certificate in the shipping documentation does not automatically mean the biosecurity risk has been adequately managed" (LinkedIn, August 2026 (opens in a new tab)).

Now put that on a DAP contract. Say you run a Melbourne homewares business and buy brass and mango-wood pieces from Moradabad, DAP to your own warehouse. The container lands, biosecurity orders re-treatment, and it sits. Who pays, and whose delay is it? Hold that question. The rule answers it, and not the way most buyers expect.

What DAP Means

Delivered at Place. The seller delivers when the goods are placed at your disposal on the arriving vehicle, ready for unloading, at the named place of destination. The seller bears every risk and cost of getting them there. You unload, clear import and pay whatever your country charges.

It works for any mode of transport. DAP arrived in the 2010 edition, when the ICC folded the old DAF, DES and DDU terms into it.

Who does what

Where The Risk Passes

At the named place of destination, when the goods are on the arriving truck or container ready for unloading. If the truck is at your dock with the doors open then the risk is now yours, and the forklift is your problem.

Here's the part that answers the Melbourne question. Import clearance is yours under DAP, and biosecurity is part of import clearance. So a re-treatment order, the storage while it happens and the delay are on the importer, even though the seller still carries the risk of the goods in transit. The container can't reach the named place until you've cleared it, and clearing it includes whatever your border demands. The seller's certificate turning out to be worthless is a quality problem you can take up with the seller afterwards, but on arrival it's your bill.

How To Write It

DAP [your warehouse address], Leeds, Incoterms 2020. Name the exact address, and the point at that address if it's a large site. "DAP Leeds" leaves the seller free to deliver anywhere in Leeds. You can name a port terminal instead, "DAP London Gateway container terminal", but then everything from the quay is yours and you should say who pays terminal handling.

Then add the clauses DAP doesn't give you by default. Name the treatment provider or require one on your authority's approved list. Say the price is fixed and diversion or re-routing costs before delivery are the seller's. And say who pays if a certificate the seller supplied is rejected at your border.

When DAP Fits, And When It Doesn't

DAP fits buyers who want one delivered price without handing their import entry to the seller. Distributors with a broker, first-time importers who want the freight handled, and anyone with an inland destination all suit it. It's also the fallback wherever DDP can't work because a foreign seller can't act as importer, and the ICC Academy suggests exactly that swap (ICC Academy, DAP and DDP, February 2025 (opens in a new tab)).

From India it fits less well for a reason of price rather than rule. A supplier that ships a few containers a year has no delivered-rate contract with a forwarder, so it marks up a spot quote and prices in delays it can't control. If you get a DAP price then ask for the FOB price and the freight separately, and compare.

It doesn't fit buyers who want to choose the routing. Under DAP the seller chooses, and in 2026 that means someone else decides Suez or the Cape, and whether a Jebel Ali box discharges at Khor Fakkan and finishes by road (our port map, September 2026, Indicative).

What To Watch Out For

• Your border's rules are yours. Biosecurity, fumigation, ISPM 15 pallets (ISPM 15), product safety holds and labelling all sit inside import clearance. Ask which provider treated the goods and check its status before the box is stuffed, not after it lands.
• Unloading is yours. If the truck arrives and your dock isn't ready then the waiting time is your cost. If the seller's driver helps unload, damage during unloading is at your risk unless the contract says otherwise. If you want the seller to unload, that's DPU.
• Have the broker ready. The seller delivers to your place, but you clear import before the goods can get there. If your broker is slow then the container sits and the demurrage argument starts.
• "DAP, duties included" isn't DAP. That's DDP with a different label. Pick one.

"Door Delivery" Is Not DAP

Indian transport and courier paperwork uses "door delivery" to mean the seller delivers to the buyer's store with freight, insurance and clearance paid, as against "godown delivery", where you collect from the transporter's depot (Ministry of Finance, Manual for Procurement of Goods, June 2022 (opens in a new tab), and an Indian public-sector purchase manual, 2006). It's a domestic phrase with no risk point and no edition behind it.

Read it as a question. Does "door delivery" include your import clearance and duty? If yes then the supplier means DDP and has to be able to act as importer in your country, which most can't. If no then it means DAP, and you should write DAP [address], Incoterms 2020 and line up your broker. The same goes for "FOR destination", the domestic delivered term explained on the FCA page.

Who Uses It From India

No one publishes usage figures. From our reading, DAP is quoted by larger Indian exporters with regular forwarder contracts, especially to UK and EU buyers who ask for a delivered price, and on air shipments where "delivered to your airport" is the natural offer. Small exporters rarely offer it, and when they do the price often shows it. Indicative.

What It Means For Your Landed Cost And Customs Value

One delivered number covers goods, export, freight and delivery to your door. You add unloading, broker fees, duty, tax and any border treatment. The landed cost calculator takes a DAP price if you set the freight lines to zero.

A DAP price includes delivery beyond your border, and most customs authorities let you take that out if it's shown. The UK lets you deduct delivery charges beyond the UK border (GOV.UK Method 1 (opens in a new tab)). The EU excludes transport after the point of entry. New Zealand and Australia value on an FOB basis and deduct international freight (NZ Customs valuation guide, May 2025 (opens in a new tab), ABF valuation fact sheet (opens in a new tab)). The US excludes international freight and insurance. In every case, get the seller to break the DAP price down on the invoice, or you'll pay duty on the trucking. The full method is on working out the real import duty.

Because the entry stays in your name, the FTA claim is yours too, which is the big advantage of DAP over DDP. Which proof Australia's ECTA, the UK's CETA or the NZ agreement takes is on certificate of origin.

DAP And Its Neighbours

• DAP vs DPU. Identical except that under DPU the seller unloads.
• DAP vs DDP. Identical except that under DDP the seller also clears import and pays duties and taxes. Where a foreign seller can't do that, DAP is the ICC's suggested alternative.
• DAP vs CIF. Under CIF the risk ends on board in India even though the seller paid the freight. Under DAP it ends at your door.
• DAP vs CPT. Same difference. CPT pays for the trip, DAP carries the risk for it.

The quick comparison of the terms buyers ask about most is in CIF, DDP and FOB. And that Melbourne order? DAP got the goods to the door. What would have saved the re-treatment was one question before stuffing - which provider treated this, and is it still approved?