Reference

Trade Codebook

The codes and abbreviations that appear on requirements, bids and shipping documents, each explained in plain words.

93 codes and terms

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Incoterms® 2020

Who pays for transport and insurance, and where the risk passes from seller to buyer. Always name the place, e.g. "FOB Kochi" or "CIF Vigo".

Code	Stands for	What it means
EXW	Ex Works	The buyer collects at the seller's premises and carries all costs and risk from there, including export clearance.
FCA	Free Carrier	The seller hands the goods, cleared for export, to the buyer's carrier at a named place. Risk passes there.
CPT	Carriage Paid To	The seller pays transport to the named destination, but risk passes when the goods are handed to the first carrier.
CIP	Carriage and Insurance Paid To	As CPT, and the seller also buys cargo insurance at the highest cover (Institute Cargo Clauses A).
DAP	Delivered at Place	The seller delivers to the named destination, ready for unloading. The buyer handles import clearance and duties.
DPU	Delivered at Place Unloaded	The seller delivers and unloads at the named destination. The buyer handles import clearance and duties.
DDP	Delivered Duty Paid	The seller delivers to the destination cleared for import, with duties paid. The most the seller can take on.
FAS	Free Alongside Ship	Sea only. The seller places the goods alongside the vessel at the port of shipment. Risk passes there.
FOB	Free On Board	Sea only. The seller loads the goods on board at the port of shipment. Risk passes once on board; the buyer pays the freight.
CFR	Cost and Freight	Sea only. The seller pays the freight to the destination port, but risk passes once the goods are on board at origin.
CIF	Cost, Insurance and Freight	Sea only. As CFR, and the seller also buys minimum cargo insurance (Institute Cargo Clauses C).

Incoterms® is a trademark of the International Chamber of Commerce. These summaries are a guide; the ICC rules themselves are the reference.

Containers and Equipment

The equipment codes used when booking ocean freight. Volumes are typical and vary slightly by maker.

Code	Stands for	What it means
20GP	20' General Purpose (dry)	The standard 20-foot dry container, about 33 m³ inside. Suited to heavy, dense cargo such as rice or ore in bags.
40GP	40' General Purpose (dry)	The standard 40-foot dry container, about 67 m³ inside.
40HC	40' High Cube	A 40-foot container about 30 cm taller than standard, about 76 m³ inside. For light, bulky cargo.
45HC	45' High Cube	A 45-foot high-cube container, about 86 m³ inside. Not accepted on every route or road.
20RF	20' Reefer	A 20-foot refrigerated container that holds a set temperature, typically from about −30 °C to +30 °C.
40RH	40' High Cube Reefer (also 40RF)	The usual container for frozen seafood: 40-foot, refrigerated, about 67 m³ inside. Often set at −18 °C or colder.
OT	Open Top	A container without a fixed roof, loaded from above by crane. For over-height cargo.
FR	Flat Rack	A platform with end walls and no sides or roof, for heavy or oversized cargo such as machinery.
TEU / FEU	Twenty-foot / Forty-foot Equivalent Unit	Units for counting containers: one 20-foot container is 1 TEU, one 40-foot container is 1 FEU or 2 TEU.

Shipping Terms

The abbreviations on freight quotes and booking confirmations.

Code	Stands for	What it means
FCL	Full Container Load	A whole container booked for one shipper's cargo.
LCL	Less than Container Load	Cargo that shares a container with other shippers' cargo; priced by volume (CBM) or weight.
FTL / LTL	Full Truck Load / Less than Truck Load	Road freight: a whole truck for one shipper, or part of a truck shared with others.
CBM	Cubic metre	One cubic metre of volume; the unit for pricing LCL cargo.
MT	Metric tonne	1,000 kilograms. Bulk commodities and many seafood contracts are priced per MT.
ETD / ETA	Estimated Time of Departure / Arrival	The expected sailing and arrival dates of a shipment.
POL / POD	Port of Loading / Port of Discharge	Where the cargo is loaded on the vessel, and where it is unloaded.
THC	Terminal Handling Charge	The port terminal's charge for moving a container between ship and yard, at origin and destination.
BAF	Bunker Adjustment Factor	A fuel surcharge added to ocean freight, adjusted as fuel prices move.
DEM / DET	Demurrage / Detention	Daily charges once free time runs out: demurrage while the container stays in the port, detention while it is kept outside.
ICD	Inland Container Depot	An inland dry port where containers are cleared by customs and stored, linked to sea ports by rail or road.
T/S	Transshipment	Moving cargo from one vessel to another at an intermediate port on the way to destination.

Documents and Payment

The papers that travel with a shipment, and the usual ways of getting paid for it.

Code	Stands for	What it means
B/L	Bill of Lading	The carrier's receipt for the cargo, the contract of carriage and, in its original form, the document of title to the goods.
SWB	Sea Waybill	A transport document that is not a title document: the named consignee collects the cargo without presenting an original.
LC	Letter of Credit	A bank's undertaking to pay the seller once documents that match the credit's terms are presented.
D/P	Documents against Payment	The buyer's bank releases the shipping documents only when the buyer pays.
D/A	Documents against Acceptance	The documents are released when the buyer accepts a bill of exchange to pay at a later date.
TT	Telegraphic Transfer	A direct bank transfer, often split as an advance and a balance against copy documents.
PI / CI	Proforma Invoice / Commercial Invoice	The proforma is the seller's priced offer before shipment; the commercial invoice is the final bill used for customs and payment.
PL	Packing List	Lists every package in the shipment with its contents, weights and marks.
COO	Certificate of Origin	States where the goods were produced; it can decide the import duty rate under trade agreements.
HC	Health Certificate	Issued by the exporting country's competent authority to confirm food such as seafood is fit for human consumption.
Phyto	Phytosanitary Certificate	Confirms plant products such as rice, pepper or coffee are free of pests and meet the importing country's rules.

Seafood Grading and Standards

How frozen seafood is described in a specification, from the freezing method to the cut and the certificates.

Code	Stands for	What it means
IQF	Individually Quick Frozen	Each piece is frozen separately, so the buyer can take out only what is needed.
Block	Block frozen	The product is frozen together in a solid block with water; cheaper to pack, but thawed as a whole.
Glaze	Glaze (%)	The thin layer of ice that protects frozen seafood. A 20% glaze means a fifth of the gross weight is ice, so agree on net weight.
26/30	Count size	How many pieces make up one pound (or one kilogram, if stated): 26/30 means 26 to 30 shrimp per unit. Smaller numbers mean bigger shrimp.
HOSO	Head-On, Shell-On	Whole shrimp with head and shell.
HLSO	Headless, Shell-On	Shrimp with the head removed and the shell left on.
PUD	Peeled, Undeveined	Peeled shrimp with the vein left in.
PD / PDTO	Peeled & Deveined / Peeled, Deveined, Tail-On	Peeled shrimp with the vein removed; PDTO keeps the tail fin on for presentation.
HG	Headed and Gutted	Fish with the head and guts removed, the usual form for frozen salmon and tuna trade.
NW	Net Weight	The weight of the product without glaze or packing. "100% NW" means the full declared weight is product.
HACCP	Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points	The food-safety system processing plants must run; required by most importing markets.
BAP / ASC / MSC	Best Aquaculture Practices / Aquaculture Stewardship Council / Marine Stewardship Council	Third-party certifications: BAP and ASC for responsibly farmed seafood, MSC for sustainably wild-caught seafood.
EU No.	EU approval number	The plant's number on the EU list of establishments approved to export seafood to the European Union.

HS Codes

The Harmonized System classifies traded goods for customs. The first six digits are the same everywhere; each country adds its own digits after them.

Code	Stands for	What it means
0306.17	Shrimps and prawns, frozen	Frozen shrimp and prawns, including vannamei and black tiger.
0307.43	Cuttlefish and squid, frozen	Frozen squid and cuttlefish, whole, tubes or rings.
0303.13	Atlantic salmon, frozen (whole)	Frozen whole or headed-and-gutted Atlantic salmon. Fresh or chilled salmon is 0302.14.
0303.42	Yellowfin tuna, frozen	Frozen whole yellowfin tuna.
0304.62	Catfish fillets, frozen	Frozen catfish fillets, including pangasius.
1006.30	Rice, semi- or wholly milled	Milled rice, including parboiled and white rice.
0904.11	Pepper, neither crushed nor ground	Whole black or white pepper.
0901.11	Coffee, not roasted, not decaffeinated	Green coffee beans, robusta or arabica.
1201.90	Soya beans (not for sowing)	Soybeans for crushing or food use.
2601.11	Iron ores, non-agglomerated	Iron ore fines and lump.
2701.12	Bituminous coal	Thermal and coking coal of the bituminous grade.
4001.22	Technically specified natural rubber (TSNR)	Block natural rubber graded to a technical standard, such as SVR, STR or SIR.
7403.11	Refined copper, cathodes	Refined copper cathodes and sections of cathodes.
2711.11	Natural gas, liquefied	Liquefied natural gas (LNG), usually priced per MMBtu.
0805.10	Oranges, fresh or dried	Fresh oranges; other citrus fruit has its own codes under 0805.

Check the full national tariff line with your customs broker before shipping.

Port Codes (UN/LOCODE)

Five-letter United Nations codes for ports: two letters for the country, three for the place. The lanes on this site use them.

Code	Port	Country
INNSA	Nhava Sheva (JNPT), Navi Mumbai	India
INMUN	Mundra	India
INVTZ	Visakhapatnam	India
INMAA	Chennai	India
INCOK	Kochi	India
INKAK	Kakinada	India
VNSGN	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam
VNHPH	Haiphong	Vietnam
CNSHA	Shanghai	China
CNNGB	Ningbo	China
CNTAO	Qingdao	China
SGSIN	Singapore	Singapore
AEJEA	Jebel Ali, Dubai	United Arab Emirates
SAJED	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia
NLRTM	Rotterdam	Netherlands
BEANR	Antwerp	Belgium
DEHAM	Hamburg	Germany
ESVGO	Vigo	Spain
ESVLC	Valencia	Spain
NOOSL	Oslo	Norway
USLAX	Los Angeles	United States
USNYC	New York	United States