The 2026 revision of the Incoterms rules is not a cosmetic update. Three clauses moved value and risk in ways that, left unaddressed in an existing contract, produce arguments at the port rather than in the office.
The three that matter commercially
1. Named place changed from a location to a precise point
The named place is no longer satisfied by a dock address. It must identify a specific point (a berth, a warehouse door, a terminal gate) and the contract must state who arranges and pays for the move between that point and wherever the goods actually are.
In practice, this settles the most common dispute in these contracts: “the goods were at the port, so the seller delivered.” Under the revised rule, delivery happens at the named point and nowhere else.
2. The cost allocation table is now exhaustive
There is no longer an implied “cost to do whatever is necessary” gap. If a cost is not assigned to a party in the table, the contract must assign it, or the default rule applies. Freight surcharges, terminal handling amendments, and inspection-at-destination costs are the ones that most often fall through.
Our recommendation: add a short cost-allocation annex to every sales contract. It is four lines and it removes the most common category of claim.
3. Insurance obligation is stated in the clause itself
Previously the obligation to insure sat in a general conditions section. It is now in the clause, and the minimum cover requirement is explicit. For CIF and CIP sales, the seller must produce the certificate before documents are presented, not after.
What we are doing about it
We have amended our standard terms of trade and our quotation templates. Clients on the annual contract will receive the revised wording in the March documentation pack. Clients on per-shipment terms will receive it with the first quotation.
A note on practical value
None of this is a reason to stop using Incoterms. It remains the most useful piece of trade vocabulary we have. But it is a reminder that the rules describe a default position, and a default position is not an agreement about your cargo.
If you want the amended clause set for a specific term, send it to trade@runwaymerchants.com and we will send it back the same day.
Applying this to an order
If the point in this briefing affects a shipment you are planning, send the product, quantity and destination port. We will tell you how it applies to that order.