Incoterms for pharmaceutical imports: a free calculator.
Pick an Incoterm 2020 rule, enter your goods value, freight, insurance and import duty, and see in plain terms who bears each leg of the journey, where the risk of loss passes to you, an indicative cost split, and the pharma-specific catch most first-time importers miss. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Currency is whatever you enter (USD, EUR, etc.). Seller = green, Buyer = gold.
How to read the result.
The responsibility ladder shows, for the term you selected, which side pays and arranges each leg from export packing in India to import duty in your market. The risk line is the one that catches buyers out: under the C-terms (CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP) the seller pays the freight to your destination, but the risk of loss passes to you back at the Indian port. You are not covered for the journey unless insurance is in place, which is why the cost split and the pharma note matter as much as the headline term.
This tool is a companion to our full written guide, which sources every rule to the ICC: Incoterms and payment terms for India pharma imports. For the regulatory side of an import, see your destination market page.
FAQ
Which Incoterm should a first-time pharma importer use?
For air or containerised pharma, CIP is a sensible default: the seller arranges carriage and the higher Institute Cargo Clauses (A) insurance to your destination, though risk still passes to you at origin so confirm the cover. An experienced importer with its own freight forwarder at the Indian end often prefers FCA to control routing and cost. Avoid FOB and CIF for air or container shipments, they are sea terms.
Why is DDP usually wrong for importing registered medicine?
DDP makes the foreign seller the importer of record, responsible for import clearance and destination duty. For registered medicines the importer of record must normally be a licensed local entity, and many markets bar a foreign entity from clearing the goods at all. DAP is the sensible ceiling: the seller delivers to your door, but you remain the importer of record.
Does CIF mean the seller carries the risk all the way to my port?
No. Under CIF (and the other C-terms) the seller pays the freight and a minimum insurance to the destination port, but the RISK of loss passes to you at the Indian port when the goods are loaded. Cost transfer and risk transfer happen at different points, which is the most misread feature of the C-group.
Is the cold-chain covered by CIF or CIP insurance?
Not automatically. CIF defaults to the restricted Institute Cargo Clauses (C) and CIP to the broader Clauses (A), both for a minimum 110 percent of value, but neither necessarily pays for spoilage from a temperature excursion. For temperature-sensitive pharma, arrange an explicit all-risks policy with a cold-chain endorsement whatever the Incoterm.
Send the line list and the destination. We will propose terms that protect both sides.
Tell us the molecules, dose forms and destination market, and the Mumbai desk comes back within one working day with a proposed Incoterm and payment structure for that lane, typically a C-term or DAP rather than DDP, plus an insurance position sized to the product and cold chain.