What Is DAP (Delivered at Place)?

DAP, short for Delivered at Place, is one of the seven Incoterms 2020 rules from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for any mode of transport, written as DAP followed by the named place of destination. Under the DAP Incoterms rule, the named destination is both where the goods are delivered and where risk passes from seller to buyer.

Who does what under DAP:

• Carriage: the seller arranges and pays for transport to the agreed place of destination.
• Export: the seller handles export clearance.
• Insurance: not mandatory, but the seller carries the risk of transport up to the destination.
• Delivery: the goods are at the buyer's disposal at the agreed destination, still loaded on the arriving vehicle. That place can be the buyer's premises, a terminal or another location in the destination country.
• Unloading: the buyer bears the costs and risks of unloading, unless the transport contract includes unloading costs for the seller.
• Import: the buyer manages and pays for import clearance. ICC's guidance on tariffs lists import clearance and tariffs as the buyer's under DAP.

DAP has a sibling rule, DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded), the renamed former DAT. The ICC explains that Incoterms 2020 presents DPU after DAP because delivery under DAP happens before unloading.

ICC Academy says the key difference between DAP and DDP lies in import customs clearance. Under DAP the buyer carries out and pays for import clearance. Under DDP the seller does, and the ICC calls DDP the only Incoterms rule where the seller pays tariffs.

ICC's tariff guidance gives using DAP instead of DDP as an example of avoiding seller exposure to tariff changes. ICC Academy also notes that some import customs authorities require the local importer to carry out import clearance, and in those cases DAP is the appropriate rule. This is general information, not legal or customs advice.

A manufacturer sells a distributor abroad 60 cases at $200 each, DAP the distributor's warehouse: 60 x $200 = $12,000.

• The manufacturer books and pays the $900 freight to the warehouse, so its price has to cover $12,000 + $900 = $12,900.
• A pallet damaged on the road before arrival is the manufacturer's loss.
• At the warehouse the distributor unloads the truck, clears the goods for import and pays the duties and import taxes on top of the $12,900.

The Incoterms page covers how Shopify defines DAP and when to mark a commercial invoice as DAP. Shopify also says that using the DAP incoterm might result in additional charges to the customer. One of them is a brokerage and disbursement fee: Shopify says carriers might charge one for their services, and because the carrier rather than a customs authority charges it, it isn't included when charging duties and import taxes at checkout is activated. If you need to charge your customers that fee, Shopify suggests adding its cost to your shipping rates.

Under DAP the seller pays the carriage to the named place, so the freight on the order matters. On Uncap's packaging and shipping supplies page, freight shipments are rated as freight, with class, dimensional weight, liftgate, appointment and residential handling, rather than as oversized parcels. Where a rate genuinely has to be confirmed, the order carries a quoted freight step rather than an estimate that gets corrected after the customer has committed.

• DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)
• FOB (free on board)
• Commercial invoice
• Importer of record
• Landed cost

• ICC Academy: DAP and DDP Incoterms 2020 explained
• International Chamber of Commerce: Incoterms 2020
• ICC: Using the Incoterms 2020 Rules to Manage Tariff Risk (PDF)