ICC announces launch date for Incoterms® 2020

The Incoterms® rules are the language of international trade. When the Incoterms® rules were first introduced in 1936, they brought coherence to a fractured international system, which included conflicting commercial and judicial standards that diverged widely from country to country.

Over 80 years later, the Incoterms® rules are used every day by millions of enterprises of all sizes from around the world, including multinational enterprises (MNEs), micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and individual practitioners.

As it celebrates its 100th year as the world business organization, ICC is pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Incoterms® rules, Incoterms® 2020, will be released in early September 2019 and come into effect on 1 January 2020.

Incoterms® 2020 reflects the ever-changing nature of today’s international trade system. Over the course of the drafting process of Incoterms® 2020, several revisions were made to make sure that the Incoterms® rules clearly and accurately reflect present-day trade practices. From early September 2019, users of the Incoterms® rules will be able to adapt, prepare and train their businesses for 1 January 2020, when Incoterms® 2020 will come into effect.

Incoterms® 2020 rules in your format of choice

Since the Incoterms® rules are used daily in contracts for the sale of goods around the world, ICC has taken steps to ensure that Incoterms® 2020 is convenient and accessible for all users. In particular, ICC will offer the new edition in a range of digital and hard copy formats.

ICC’s worldwide network of offices, known as national committees, will be offering translated versions of the Incoterms® rules to benefit the understanding of users from around the world. Translation of Incoterms® 2020 into 27 languages is already under preparation.

Incoterms® 2020 Mobile Application

Access to essential information of the rules will be made easier than ever via a dedicated Incoterms® 2020 mobile application, to be made available on IOS and Android.

Within the app, users can access a wide variety of informative features, including latest news updates, event information and training opportunities. Unlike other ICC resources, the Incoterms® rules app also offers users with the ability to contact verified experts. These experts can provide real-time advice on the most pressing Incoterms® rules questions facing your enterprise.

Are you suffering from poor internet connection? No problem. Given the ever-changing nature of today’s global economy, ICC has made several of the application’s features available offline, including a digital version of Incoterms® 2020. Therefore, if you are travelling on the high seas, or stuck inside a port with poor WIFI, the Incoterms® rules application will still be there to guide you.

Incoterms®  2020 Training Courses

Due to the overwhelming importance of the Incoterms® rules for business, ICC will be providing dedicated training sessions to ensure that Incoterms® 2020 are used correctly by everyone, everywhere, every day. Misapplication of the Incoterms® rules, or trusting the guidance of fake Incoterms® rules providers, will result in damaging consequences for business.

ICC dedicated training sessions help ensure that the Incoterms® rules are appropriately applied. Already, the ICC Academy, ICC’s dedicated e-learning platform, has announced the pre-order launch of the Incoterms® 2020 training courses, as well as the Incoterms® 2020 Certificate. Before 9 August 2019, users can sign up for a 15% early-bird special discount for the Incoterms® 2020 Certificate training course.

The online training includes interactive case studies that allow trainees to apply their understanding of the Incoterms® rules by simulating real-life work scenarios. The course content was written by leading ICC experts to ensure consistency with ICC’s standards of excellence.

ICC national committees will also be offering a wide range of training sessions and supplemental services related to Incoterms® 2020. So far, these include 10 launch events and over 130 training seminars in 20 countries and over 60 cities worldwide.

Introducing “smartINCOs”: the next generation of the Incoterms rules

As part of its global efforts to embrace the use of technology as a key driver of transformation for international trade, ICC with support from Perlin, a Singapore-based distributed ledger technology company, will develop customisable, self-executing digital sales agreements, incorporating the new Incoterms® rules. This incorporation of smartIncoterms® rules, or smartINCOs, will help facilitate trade by reducing costs and barriers faced by importers and exporters worldwide, notably micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The platform will utilise sensor data and application programme interfaces (APIs) to prompt triggers for self-execution, sustainability, and other environmental, social and governmental (ESGs) performance indicators to improve trade facilitation.

The project will be introduced today in Singapore at an event hosted by Enterprise Singapore. ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO will be joined by Dorjee Sun, CEO and co-founder of Perlin, and Satvinder Singh, Assistant CEO for Enterprise Singapore.

On the project, Mr Sun said: “This platform will be a source of truth to allow for the pre-population of other related trade documents and to minimise error rates in trade documentation.”