If you want to carry your freight internationally, Taha Cargo and Logistics will give you the opportunity to take advantage of CIF and its benefits for your business whether being medium-sized or large. We have CIF services to European countries, the USA and Canada (bulk only), and all around the world.
Cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) is an international shipping agreement, which represents the charges paid by a seller to cover the costs, insurance, and freight of a buyer's order while the cargo is in transit. Cost, insurance, and freight only applies to goods transported via a waterway, sea, or ocean.
The goods are exported to the buyer's port named in the sales contract. Once the goods are loaded onto the vessel, the risk of loss or damage is transferred from the seller to the buyer. However, insuring the cargo and paying for freight remains the seller's responsibility.
CIF is similar to carriage and insurance paid to (CIP), but CIF is used for only sea and waterway shipments, while CIP can be used for any mode of transport, such as by truck.
The contract terms of CIF define when the liability of the seller ends and the liability of the buyer begins. CIF is only used when shipping goods overseas or via a waterway.
The seller has the responsibility for paying the cost and freight of shipping the goods to the buyer's port of destination. Usually, exporters who have direct access to ships will use CIF. However, the buyer has responsibilities as well, which are outlined below.
Seller's Responsibilities Under CIF terms, the seller's responsibilities include:
The seller must deliver the goods to the ship within the agreed-upon timeframe and provide proof of delivery and loading.
Buyer's Responsibilities Once the goods have arrived at the buyer's destination port, the buyer assumes responsibility for the costs associated with importing and delivering the goods. Some of these costs include the following:
As an example, let's say that Best Buy has ordered 1,000 flat-screen televisions from Sony using a CIF agreement to Kobe, a Japanese port. Sony has delivered the order to the port and loaded the product onto the ship for transport. Once loading has been completed, the risk of loss is transferred from Sony to Best Buy. In return, Sony has purchased insurance and pays the freight and shipping costs until the ordered goods reach the buyer's port of destination.
While the ship is en route, a fire breaks out in one of the cargo bays. The cargo is damaged due to the fire and the water during fire fighting efforts. Since a CIF agreement was in place, Best Buy can file an insurance claim to cover the cost of the damaged goods.