Annals of “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati Fascicle I. Economics and Applied Informatics Years XVIII – n o 1/2012 ISSN 1584-0409 www.ann.ugal.ro/eco Development of the International Trade in Terms of Incoterms 2010 Rules Lucia PALIU - POPA * ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Accepted March 2012 Available online 30 April 2012 JEL Classification F13, F19, F44, M16, M21 Keywords: Foreign trade, Delivery terms, Transactions, Rules, Risks It is known that the world economy provides the entrepreneurs a wide range of functional integration in foreign trade systems, but these commercial transactions are subject to common rules established and uniformly applied throughout the world. In the context of the importance of time or place of the transfer of ownership from seller to buyer, in carrying out intra-Community and international trade, time that also influences the price of goods, as now and then there takes place the transfer and the acquisition of costs and of the risk that the delivery involves, in this paper we will analyse the new delivery terms used in foreign trade, regulated under the name of Incoterms 2010, after which analysis we will issue opinions on the benefits of the proper use of such rules. © 2012 EAI. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction We can not help notice that the evolution of modern society, characterised by increased freedom of action, provides the entrepreneurs, regardless of the geographic area where they come from, a wide range of functional integration in the foreign trade systems, be it a single market such as the European Union or an international one. But these commercial transactions are subject to some common rules established and applied uniformly globally or regionally, that serve as a benchmark all over the business world. Knowing these rules is important for all the categories of participants in foreign trade because they affect the value of goods that are traded within the Community and internationally [8]. However, the proper use of the delivery terms involves from the contractual partners not only to have knowledge of the content of these rules, but also the proper insertion of the same in the international sale agreement, with all the necessary details in order to eliminate the situations that would lead to different interpretations. This paper is devoted to the analysis of the conditions for international delivery of goods, valid from 1 January 2011, as they were regulated by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris (International Chamber of Commerce-ICC), known as Incoterms 2010 and to clarifying the influence that have brought the changes to the scope of the obligations of the parties in connection with the delivery, as an essential constituent in the contract of international sale and purchase. Looking from this perspective, in section 2 The evolution of the international rules for the delivery of goods, we will present the international norms which serve as a landmark for the world of business, ever since their appearance in 1928, for each period, the determining characteristics and improvements made in order to increase the degree of universality, so that by appropriate usage to facilitate the success of international commercial transactions and to ensure greater safety for importers and exporters. Special emphasis will be given to the changes in the new practice, changes that are due, mainly, to the removal of the uncertainties relating to disputes and difficulties which have arisen in the interpretation of the clauses of the Incoterms 2000 on transport practices, which are ever-changing and increasingly more combined, because the delivery conditions appreciably influence the invoiced value and the statistical value required for completing and reporting Intrastat Statistical Declaration; section 3 Contents of the delivery terms Incoterms 2010. Analysis will allow us to identify and to present, in section 4 Advantages of using the Incoterms 2010, the benefits of the appropriate knowledge and inserting of such clauses in the contract of international sale and purchase, starting from the assumption that they allow us to define the exact scope of the obligations of the Contracting Parties in relation to the delivery of goods, as an essential constituent in the performance of the contract, for a susequent focus on European Union territory and reference to those rules, which remain in force, although intra-community commercial transactions do not require any customs formalities, rules that are partially used; section 5 Special features regarding the application of Incoterms 2010 in the Community. * “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Romania. E-mail address: univers_cont@yahoo.com