Incoterms Quiz With Answers: 18 Worked Cases (2026)

Every Incoterms answer starts with where the goods are delivered. Illustrative image generated with AI; IFG Shipping logo added.

Can you read a short deal description and say who carries the risk and who pays? This Incoterms quiz with answers gives you 18 scenarios on Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia lanes, each with a worked answer. A rule-checking script and a separate blind AI reader both matched the answer key in 18 of 18 cases, checked against ICC's own texts on 5 October 2026.

Try the questions before you read the answers. Every answer starts from one point: where the seller "delivers" the goods. In every rule, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which owns and publishes the Incoterms® rules, ties the transfer of risk to that delivery point. If you need the definitions first, read Incoterms 2020 explained, then come back.

Checked 5 October 2026 · IFG Shipping

Key Takeaways

• Find the delivery point first: in all 11 Incoterms 2020 rules, risk passes there.

• In the 4 C rules, the named place is the freight destination, not the delivery point.

• Containers handed over at a terminal fit FCA better than FOB, in ICC's own guidance.

• CIP needs Institute Cargo Clauses (A) cover by default; CIF needs only Clauses (C).

• Incoterms do not decide ownership, payment or who provides the VGM.

Part 1: The 18 Questions

Write your answer down before you scroll. Each question has one closed answer: seller or buyer, yes or no, or a three-letter rule.

Sea freight and containers

1. A Shenzhen seller trucks a packed 40ft container to the Yantian container terminal and hands it to the shipping line the Singapore buyer booked. The draft contract says FOB Yantian. Which Incoterms 2020 rule matches how delivery really happens?

2. They sign FOB Yantian anyway. Terminal equipment damages the container in the yard before it is loaded. Under the contract as written, who bears that risk?

3. A Singapore seller sells CIF Port Klang. The goods are loaded at Singapore and damaged by heavy weather on the voyage. Who bears that risk?

4. In the same CIF Port Klang sale, are the goods delivered at the loading port (Singapore) or at the named port (Port Klang)?

Insurance

1. A Singapore seller sells CIP Jakarta by air. The contract says nothing about insurance level, and the seller buys Institute Cargo Clauses (C) cover. Does that meet the rule's default minimum?

2. The same goods go CIF Tanjung Priok by sea, again with Clauses (C) and nothing agreed. Does that meet the default minimum?

At the destination

1. A Johor Bahru seller sells DAP the buyer's warehouse in Tuas. A pallet is dropped while the buyer's forklift unloads the truck. Who bears that risk?

2. Same lane, same accident, but the contract says DPU the buyer's warehouse in Tuas. Who bears it now?

3. A Singapore seller with no company or importer registration in Indonesia agrees to DDP Surabaya. Who must clear the goods for import in Indonesia?

4. The deal is renegotiated as DAP Surabaya. Who clears the goods for import now?

Collection and handover

1. EXW Penang factory. The Singapore buyer's truck arrives, and as a courtesy the seller's forklift driver loads it and drops a crate. Who bears that risk?

2. Same facts, but the contract is FCA Penang factory (the seller's premises). Who bears the risk of the crate dropped during loading?

3. FCA Pasir Gudang container terminal. The seller uses its own haulier to bring the container to the terminal, and the truck overturns on the way. Who bears that loss?

4. The same FCA Pasir Gudang sale is paid by letter of credit, and the credit demands an on-board bill of lading. Can Incoterms 2020 FCA accommodate that?

Rule choice, carriers and contracts

1. A Malaysian supplier quotes "FOB Kuala Lumpur International Airport" for air freight. Which rule does ICC point to for a handover to the buyer's carrier at an inland point like this?

2. FOB Belawan, containerised. The carrier will not load a container without a Verified Gross Mass (VGM). Does Incoterms 2020 itself say whether seller or buyer provides the VGM?

3. CPT Batam. The Singapore seller contracts and pays a ferry cargo carrier and hands the cartons over in Singapore. They are damaged in the crossing. Who bears that risk?

4. A buyer argues that because the contract says FOB Singapore, ownership passed to them when the goods were loaded. Do the Incoterms 2020 rules decide when ownership passes?

Answers 1 to 4, 15 and 16: Sea Freight and Containers

The four sea rules (FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF) only work when the seller hands the goods over at the ship. Containers are usually handed over earlier, at the terminal. Questions 1, 2 and 15 sit in that gap.

1. FCA. A container is handed to the carrier at the terminal, not loaded on board by the seller. For container cargo, ICC Academy's FOB guidance notes that delivery usually happens at the container terminal rather than on board, and that FCA is the more appropriate rule. ICC's own Introduction to Incoterms 2020 agrees and advises that container seller to use FCA rather than FOB (ICC Introduction, para 66).

2. Seller. Under FOB, ICC Academy says the seller delivers, and risk passes, "when the goods are onboard the vessel nominated by the buyer at the named port of shipment" (ICC Academy). A container damaged in the yard has not been delivered yet. That is why question 1 matters.

3. Buyer. In CFR and CIF, "the risk passes when the goods are onboard the vessel contracted by the seller" (ICC Academy, same article). The weather damage happened after loading at Singapore, so it is the buyer's risk. The buyer's protection is the insurance the seller had to buy (question 6).

4. The loading port. Here the named place misleads. In the C rules, the named place is where the seller must pay carriage to, and ICC's Introduction says "that place is not and never becomes the place of delivery" (para 26). CIF Port Klang means freight paid to Port Klang, delivered at Singapore.

15. FCA. FOB is a sea and inland waterway rule (the US International Trade Administration lists four sea rules and seven for any mode). ICC's Introduction says "an FOB inland point (for example an airport or a warehouse) sale contract makes little sense" (para 48). FCA is the rule built for a handover to the buyer's carrier. That step is our reading of the FCA delivery wording; ICC writes no such sentence about airports.

16. No. ICC's drafting group left VGM out on purpose, judging its obligations and costs too specific and complex to mention (Introduction, para 61). Agree in the sales contract who weighs and declares the container. For what a full container involves in practice, see FCL or LCL.

Answers 5 and 6: Does the Insurance Meet the Rule?

5. No. On its Incoterms 2020 page, ICC says CIP now demands the higher cover of Institute Cargo Clauses (A), or similar clauses. Clauses (C) falls short. Only a lower level agreed in the contract would change that, and there is none.

6. Yes. For CIF, ICC keeps Institute Cargo Clauses (C) as the default level of cover (same page). Same goods, same cover, different answer, because the rule changed. If your buyer expects Clauses (A) cover on a CIF sale, write it into the contract.

Answers 7 to 10: Who Unloads and Who Clears Import Customs?

The three D rules deliver at the destination, and the seller has to arrange transport all the way there (ICC Introduction, para 12). What separates them is unloading and import clearance.

7. Buyer. Under DAP, risk passes when the seller places the goods at the buyer's disposal, still on the arriving truck and ready for unloading (ICC Academy). The pallet fell during unloading, so after delivery. ICC's 2020 page puts the difference in one line: under DAP the seller does not unload, and under DPU it does. More on this rule in who pays under DAP.

8. Seller. Under DPU, the seller delivers by unloading, so the drop happened before delivery was complete. One word in the contract moves the same accident to the other party. Here the buyer's forklift did the work that DPU gives the seller; the texts do not deal with that, and the contract or national law could change the result.

9. Seller. Under DDP the "seller is required to clear the goods for import" (ICC Academy). Our search data shows readers asking exactly this: which rule makes the seller responsible for import customs? DDP. ICC's Introduction warns that this can be "physically or legally difficult" for a seller abroad, and that such a seller should consider DAP or DPU instead (para 22). For the duty and GST side, read who pays duty and GST under DDP.

10. Buyer. ICC Academy describes DDP as DAP with one change: the seller clears for import. So under DAP, that job stays with the buyer. Our Incoterms guide says the same: under DAP, "the buyer handles import clearance and duties". The ICC texts we used imply this rather than state it, and the blind reader flagged that.

Answers 11 to 14: Collection, Handover and the Bill of Lading

11. Buyer. Under EXW, delivery happens when the seller places the goods at the buyer's disposal, "not loaded on any collecting vehicle" (ICC Academy). Loading is not the seller's job, so a crate dropped during loading falls after delivery. The texts do not deal with a seller who loads as a favour, and national law or the contract could change the result. ICC's Introduction says EXW "may cause problems ... with loading and export clearance" and that "the seller would be better advised to sell under the FCA rule" (para 22).

12. Seller. FCA at the seller's premises delivers once the goods are loaded on the transport the buyer arranged (ICC Academy). Loading is now part of the seller's delivery, so the drop is the seller's risk. Together, questions 11 and 12 show where EXW ends and FCA begins.

13. Seller. In FCA, risk passes where the goods are placed at the disposal of the buyer's carrier. ICC's Introduction is explicit: "risk would transfer not at the place and time where the seller hands the goods over to the haulier engaged by the seller" (para 33). The truck never reached the terminal.

14. Yes. ICC's 2020 page explains the option in article A6/B6: the parties can agree that "the buyer will instruct the carrier to issue an on-board bill of lading to the seller once the goods have been loaded on board". The Introduction adds that the seller still owes nothing about the terms of carriage (para 65). For how the bill itself works, read original, telex and seaway bills. For the payment side, see telegraphic transfer or letter of credit.

Answers 17 and 18: Carriers, Contracts and Ownership

17. Buyer. In CPT, risk passes once the goods are handed to the carrier the seller contracted (ICC Academy). The seller paid the ferry, but the buyer carried the risk from the handover in Singapore. Paying for transport and carrying the risk are separate questions, and the C rules split them.

18. No. ICC's Introduction says the rules "do NOT deal with the transfer of property/title/ownership of the goods sold" (para 7). Nor do they deal with payment terms, tariffs or remedies for breach. Ownership follows the contract and the law that governs it.

What Your Misses Say About You

Count your misses by group. The pattern shows what to revise next.

• Missed 1, 2 or 15: you are picking the rule by habit rather than by where the goods are actually handed over.

• Missed 3, 4 or 17: you are reading the named place as the delivery point. In the C rules it is only the freight destination.

• Missed 7, 8, 11 or 12: you know the rules but not the edges. Unloading and loading are where one rule hands over to the next.

• Missed 9 or 10: you have not checked who can act as importer at the destination.

• Missed 16 or 18: you are expecting Incoterms to do the contract's job.

That is why every answer here starts with the delivery point, not the price. ICC makes the same point: its rules "are not, however, exclusively, or even primarily, price indicators" (Introduction, para 51).

Before You Sign: Five Checks on Any Incoterm

1. Find the delivery point. Ask where the seller's job ends and write the exact place, such as a named terminal or a warehouse address. ICC's Academy gives "FOB Shanghai Port, Berth no.5" as the kind of precision to aim for.

2. Write the edition. Add "Incoterms 2020" after the place. ICC warns that "leaving the year out could cause problems that may be difficult to resolve" (Introduction, para 11).

3. Match the rule to the transport. Use the sea rules only when the seller hands over at the ship. For containers, air and truck, use FCA, CPT, CIP or a D rule.

4. Read the costs article. ICC now lists every cost of a rule in article A9/B9, so that is where to check who pays loading, unloading and clearance.

5. Cover the gaps separately. Payment, ownership, VGM and insurance above the default level all need their own clause.

Method

An AI research agent wrote the 18 scenarios on 5 October 2026 and worked each answer from ICC's Introduction to Incoterms 2020, ICC's Incoterms 2020 page and two ICC Academy articles, all fetched that day. The agent then froze the answer key with a SHA256 hash before running any check. No person hand-checked the answers. The cases cover 5 standard, 5 boundary, 6 trick and 2 failure scenarios. The failure cases are deals ICC warns against: EXW for an export, and DDP without a way to import.

Two checks followed. First, a small rule checker answered all 18. It is a script that encodes the delivery, risk, insurance, unloading and clearance points from those texts. Second, a separate AI agent, acting as a blind reader, got only the questions and the same source texts, never the key, and derived each answer with the passage it relied on. A case counts as matched only when the key, the checker and the blind reader all agree. The result was 18 of 18.

Q	Rule	Type	Key	Checker	Blind reader
1	FOB (container)	boundary	FCA	FCA	FCA
2	FOB	trick	Seller	Seller	Seller
3	CIF	standard	Buyer	Buyer	Buyer
4	CIF	trick	Loading port	Loading port	Loading port
5	CIP	boundary	No	No	No
6	CIF	boundary	Yes	Yes	Yes
7	DAP	standard	Buyer	Buyer	Buyer
8	DPU	boundary	Seller	Seller	Seller
9	DDP	failure	Seller	Seller	Seller
10	DAP	standard	Buyer	Buyer	Buyer
11	EXW	failure	Buyer	Buyer	Buyer
12	FCA (premises)	boundary	Seller	Seller	Seller
13	FCA (terminal)	standard	Seller	Seller	Seller
14	FCA	trick	Yes	Yes	Yes
15	FOB (airport)	trick	FCA	FCA	FCA
16	Any	trick	No	No	No
17	CPT	standard	Buyer	Buyer	Buyer
18	Any	trick	No	No	No

Limits

This quiz tests how you read the rules on simplified scenarios, not real contracts. The full ICC rule text is copyrighted and sold by ICC, so the agent worked from ICC's Introduction, its 2020 page and ICC Academy articles. The Introduction states it is its author's personal view, and the Academy articles say the same. For questions 10, 11 and 15, the answer follows from the wording rather than a direct statement, as each answer notes. The same AI agent wrote the key and the checker, which is why a second agent read blind. Both are AI, so a human expert check would still add something. National law, the UN sales convention (CISG), duty, GST and permits are outside this quiz. A real contract can change any of these answers.

Cite This

IFG Shipping. "Incoterms Quiz With Answers: 18 Worked Cases (2026)". Cases written and checked 5 October 2026; published October 2026. The 18-row results table under Method is the dataset, and this page is the canonical source. Incoterms® is a trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Learn It With Iman, or Hand It to IFG

If you missed one and want to know why, send Iman Yusoff the scenario on WhatsApp at +60 14 325 8325, or follow his lessons on LinkedIn and on TikTok as @freightsifu. It costs nothing, and there is no course, workshop or certificate behind it. Our six-fundamentals roadmap puts Incoterms first for a reason. Read more about who Iman Yusoff is.

If you have a real shipment and want it handled, send IFG the details or WhatsApp the same number. Include the product, the route and the Incoterm on your quote, and IFG will reply on the route and the documents.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Incoterm makes the seller responsible for import customs?

DDP. ICC Academy describes DDP as the D rule in which the seller must clear the goods for import in the destination country. Under DAP and DPU the buyer clears import. ICC's Introduction advises a seller who would struggle to clear goods in the buyer's country to consider DAP or DPU instead.

Who pays freight under DAP?

The seller. In the D rules the named place is both the delivery point and the destination, and ICC's Introduction puts the job of arranging transport to that place on the seller (para 12). Our guide to who pays under DAP goes further. The buyer takes over at that place, ready for unloading, and handles import clearance and duty unless the contract says otherwise.

Disclaimer: this is general educational material on the Incoterms® 2020 rules, not legal advice. The answers assume each scenario's facts and nothing else; real contracts, national law and carrier terms can change the outcome. Incoterms® is a trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce; for the full rules, use ICC's own publication. Checked 5 October 2026.

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