At a Glance
- Transfer of risk
- At the seller's premises
- Export clearance
- Buyer
- Insurance obligation
- None (the buyer decides)
What EXW means in practice
Under EXW the seller's responsibility ends as soon as the goods are available at the agreed place. The buyer organises and finances everything: collection, loading costs, export and import clearance, freight insurance and the entire transport to the destination. EXW suits experienced buyers who have their own forwarders or better transport rates.
EXW vs FCA: which is better?
FCA (free carrier) is preferable in most cases, because there the seller hands the goods over to the carrier cleared for export – something that falls to the buyer under EXW. That can be problematic if the buyer has no export registration in the supplying country. The ICC recommends FCA rather than EXW for containerised sea freight and cross-border transports.
Typical uses for EXW
EXW is often used in domestic trade, where export formalities do not arise. Large buyers with their own logistics networks (car manufacturers, for instance) also use EXW in order to control terms centrally. In international B2B trade, FCA is usually more workable.
