DDUDelivered Duty Unpaid

DDU hasn't been an Incoterms rule since the 2010 edition, and it's still on quotes from Indian forwarders and courier desks. We cover it for one reason: you'll see it, and you need to know what to write back.

The current rules are Incoterms 2020, in force since 1 January 2020, and as of 28 September 2026 the ICC has published no newer edition. DDU isn't in this one, and it wasn't in the one before it. It's habit, not a trick, so don't read a DDU quote as a warning sign about the supplier.

Where DDU Still Lives

Two places, both easy to find. Delhi forwarders list "DDU DDP DAP" as a service menu on IndiaMART (read 25 September 2026, Supplier-stated). And Mazagon Dock, the Mumbai government shipbuilder, still hosts a purchase-manual page that names "DAF, DES, DEQ, DDU and DDP" as the D terms of "INCOTERMS-2000" (Mazagon Dock's purchase manual (opens in a new tab), 2006, still online on 28 September 2026). Funnily enough, that page lists DDU and then never defines it.

So when a forwarder's quote or a supplier's template says DDU, it's usually someone using a term that was current when they learned the trade. The job is to translate it, not to argue about it.

What DDU Meant

Delivered Duty Unpaid. The seller delivered the goods to a named place in your country, not unloaded, and carried the cost and the risk of getting them there. You cleared import and paid the duty and tax. Everything up to your door was the seller's job, the duty was yours.

The ICC dropped it in 2010, together with DAF, DES and DEQ, and cut the set from thirteen rules to eleven. DAP does DDU's job: same delivery point, same split of clearance and duty, same risk running to your named place. The ICC said the new rules made the old ones superfluous, and one rule with one named place is easier to get right.

If A Supplier Still Quotes DDU

Ask for a requote as DAP [your address], Incoterms 2020, and check three things before you send it. First, the place. "DDU Sydney" is a city, not a delivery point, so get the address or terminal into the term. Second, what the number covers. A DDU price from an Indian forwarder often includes destination handling, so ask for that in writing, because the 2020 rule leaves unloading and everything after arrival to you.

Third, and this is the one that costs money, who files the import entry. Under DDU and DAP alike import clearance is yours. But if the quote comes from a courier desk then the courier may file the entry in its own name, and any duty refund then goes to the courier. A US seller found exactly that with the 2026 IEEPA refunds (r/ecommerce (opens in a new tab), May 2026, Reported). The DAP page covers the entry. And if the forwarder and destination agent aren't ones you chose, SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) can price the same move against a FOB price plus your own freight, so you can see the gap.

The Trap

A quote that names DDU names no current rule. If something goes wrong between the port and your warehouse then the contract has to be read against a withdrawn term, and the two sides will argue about which edition they meant. That argument costs more than the freight.

The quieter trap is reading DDU as "DDP without the duty" and assuming the seller arranged destination clearance. Clearance was always yours. Write DAP, name the place, and put your broker's name in the PO.