FCA

What is FCA?

In the Incoterm FCA, or Free Carrier, the seller is responsible for most or all of the export details at origin and the buyer is responsible for destination operations and some select origin operations. This term is flexible and basically indicates that the seller is responsible for the goods until an agreed up location, usually the sea or airport, but can also be the forwarder’s warehouse or even the seller’s factory.

According to the FCA Incoterms, what is each party responsible for?

Under FCA, the seller is responsible for export clearance, trucking within the export country, and delivery of goods to the agreed on location in the seller’s country.The buyer is responsible for unloading the goods from the seller’s transport and all transportation from that point including any necessary trucking to the port from the handover location, if applicable. Additionally, risk passes to the buyer from the seller when the seller takes responsibility for the goods.

For example, if the agreed on location is a warehouse belonging to the buyer’s freight forwarder, then the buyer would take on responsibility and risk as soon as the goods arrive, including the unloading process from the seller’s transport (i.e. truck).

When is FCA used?

FCA is a flexible Incoterm, and can be used for intermodal transportation, as well as any other mode, especially for containerized freight, though it can also be used via air, ocean, and railway. It’s a suitable solution for all cases where the buyer must arrange the main carriage of the shipment.