Terms of sale can be thought of as sitting on a sliding scale of responsibilities, which are split between buyers and sellers according to the Incoterms rules. At one end, risk and cost are loaded towards the buyer, and at the other end they fall more with the seller.

So far, we’ve looked at:

• FCA, under which the buyer is responsible for arranging the main carriage, and
• CPT, where the seller arranges the main carriage.

Under CIP, as well as the main carriage the seller also arranges and pays for insurance against loss or damage during transit for the benefit of the buyer, because just like FCA and CPT the risk or loss or damage during still passes from the seller to the buyer before carriage commences.