Is DDP always more expensive than DAP for the buyer?

The buyer pays less directly (no CBSA duty bill of their own), but the seller's DDP price will typically build in the cost of arranging that clearance and duty payment — so the total landed cost isn't necessarily different, just restructured into one seller-side price instead of a separate buyer-side customs bill.

Does DDP change any dangerous goods requirements?

No — DDP only changes who's responsible for delivery, risk, and import clearance. A DG-classified shipment still needs the same Packing Instruction compliance, Shipper's Declaration (where required), and packaging/marking regardless of the Incoterm on the commercial invoice.

Who pays the carrier's freight charges under DDP — does that affect CASS settlement?

The seller bears the freight cost under DDP, but that's a commercial-terms question between buyer and seller — it doesn't change how the underlying carrier charges settle. UAL's carrier invoices still clear through our own CASS enrollment regardless of which party is ultimately responsible for the cost under the agreed Incoterm.

Air Freight Fundamentals

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) Explained

The seller's maximum obligation — delivered, cleared for import, duties paid. The mirror image of EXW, and the term buyers most often assume applies when it hasn't been agreed.

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Named destination, cleared

Where risk transfers — after import clearance

Seller

Pays import duty and taxes

Mirror of EXW

Maximum seller obligation vs. maximum buyer obligation

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Incoterms 2020 rules, usable any mode

The seller clears the buyer's own country's customs

Under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), the seller bears maximum obligation: delivering the goods at the named destination, cleared for import, with all duties and taxes paid. Risk transfers to the buyer only once the goods are delivered, cleared, and ready for unloading — later even than DAP, because DDP folds import clearance into the seller's side of that final handover.

In practice, this requires the seller — or an agent acting for the seller, since most sellers don't have a direct relationship with the destination country's own customs authority — to file the import declaration in the buyer's country, pay whatever CBSA duty and any applicable taxes (GST/HST on an import into Canada) are owed, and only then hand the goods to the buyer. A foreign seller without a customs presence in Canada typically has to appoint a customs broker there specifically to do this.

DDP shipments run through the same DGR and customs clearance mechanics as any other air shipment — a DDP quote doesn't exempt a dangerous-goods-classified commodity from its Shipper's Declaration or packing requirements, and the underlying carrier charges behind the seller's DDP quote still settle through IATA's CASS system the same way they would under any other term.

The Term Buyers Most Often Assume, Without Confirming

"Delivered" doesn't mean DDP unless DDP was actually agreed

Buyers sometimes assume a seller has quoted DDP just because the price is described as "delivered" or "all-in." Confirm the actual named Incoterm on the commercial invoice before assuming the seller is covering import duty — under DAP, which sounds similar, the buyer still owes it.

See how carrier charges behind a DDP quote settle through CASS →

Source: ICC Incoterms 2020 rules — DDP seller obligations (A7, import clearance and duty payment), the maximum-obligation counterpart to EXW.

Worked example

DDP Toronto — the seller's agent clears CBSA on the seller's behalf

The same corridor, one more time — Kuala Lumpur to Toronto on Emirates SkyCargo's KUL–DXB–YYZ routing — under DDP Toronto Pearson.

The seller (typically through UAL or a Canadian customs broker acting on the seller's behalf) files the CBSA import declaration, presents the commercial invoice and any Certificate of Origin needed to support a duty claim, and pays whatever duty and GST/HST is assessed — all before the goods are handed to the buyer. Risk transfers only at that final, cleared handover.

For the buyer, this is the closest thing to a pure landed-cost transaction: no separate broker relationship to arrange, no CBSA filing to manage, no duty bill to receive after the fact. The tradeoff is that the seller's price has to build in the cost of arranging customs clearance in a country the seller likely doesn't operate in directly — which is exactly why a seller quoting DDP into Canada for the first time typically needs a Canadian customs broker relationship lined up before agreeing to the term, not after the shipment lands.

What UAL handles for you

On a DDP shipment where the seller needs Canadian customs clearance arranged, we coordinate that filing directly — confirming duty and GST/HST are settled and the shipment is genuinely cleared before it's released to the buyer, rather than the seller assuming "delivered" covers customs when it hasn't actually been arranged.

Canadian import clearance coordinated for the seller

IATA Accredited Cargo Agent

ASEAN-Canada Specialist

Frequently asked questions

Not a legal entity, but they do need an agent — typically a licensed Canadian customs broker — to file the import declaration and remit duty on their behalf, since CBSA clearance has to be handled by someone with the standing to file it.

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DAP (Delivered at Place)

CASS Settlement Explained

DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded)

Incoterms 2020 rules, DDP obligations A1–A10/B1–B10: International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Incoterms 2020. Last verified: August 2026.