Was DPU called something else before Incoterms 2020?

Yes — it was DAT (Delivered at Terminal) under Incoterms 2010, restricted to a "terminal" as the named place. Incoterms 2020 renamed it DPU and broadened the named place to any location the parties agree on, not just a terminal.

Does DPU cover import clearance the way DDP does?

No. Import clearance and duty remain the buyer's responsibility under DPU, exactly as under DAP. DDP is the only term where the seller takes that on.

Why would a seller agree to DPU instead of DAP?

Usually when the buyer specifically needs the goods unloaded at a location that can't do it themselves, or where the commercial arrangement calls for the seller's agent to handle that final step directly rather than leaving it to the buyer's own resources.

Air Freight Fundamentals

DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded) Explained

The one Incoterm that requires the seller to actually unload the goods at the named destination — a small-sounding difference from DAP with real practical weight.

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Only DPU

Requires seller-side unloading at destination

Renamed in 2020

Was DAT (Delivered at Terminal) under Incoterms 2010

Buyer

Still handles import clearance, same as DAP

Unloading capability

The seller must actually have at destination

The unloading obligation that most air cargo terminals already assume, but DPU makes explicit

Under DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded), the seller bears risk and cost to the named destination and — unlike DAP — is also responsible for unloading the goods there. Incoterms 2020 renamed this rule from DAT (Delivered at Terminal) under the 2010 edition to DPU, broadening the named place beyond just a "terminal" to any named place the parties agree on, while keeping the unloading obligation the defining feature.

Practically, for air cargo, this matters most when the named place isn't a standard airport cargo terminal already set up to receive and break down shipments as a matter of course — a buyer's own warehouse, for instance, where someone genuinely has to arrange unloading capability and equipment, and where the seller (or their agent) has to actually be present or arrange for that unloading to happen, not simply deliver a loaded ULD and walk away.

Import clearance and duty remain the buyer's responsibility under DPU, exactly as under DAP — the difference between the two rules is entirely about the unloading step, not about customs. That distinguishes DPU from DDP, where the seller takes on import clearance and duty as well.

DPU vs DAP — One Real Difference

DPU adds one obligation on top of DAP: the seller must unload the goods, not just deliver them

Everything else — risk transfer point, buyer handling import clearance and duty — is identical to DAP. Confirm the seller genuinely has unloading capability at the named place before agreeing to DPU; it's a real logistical commitment, not a formality.

Compare against DAP, where unloading is the buyer's job →

Source: ICC Incoterms 2020 rules — DPU (formerly DAT under Incoterms 2010) seller unloading obligation (A2), buyer import clearance obligation (B7), same as DAP.

Worked example

DPU at a Toronto warehouse — the seller's agent has to unload it

The same corridor — Kuala Lumpur to Toronto on Emirates SkyCargo's KUL–DXB–YYZ routing — this time delivered under DPU to the buyer's own Toronto warehouse rather than an airport cargo terminal.

The seller bears risk and cost across the KUL–DXB–YYZ routing on Emirates SkyCargo, same as under DAP or DDP. But the named place here is the buyer's own warehouse, not the airport — so once the shipment clears the airport-side handling, the seller's agent (in this case, UAL arranging the final domestic leg) still has to arrange trucking from Toronto Pearson to the warehouse and physically unload the goods there before risk transfers to the buyer.

Import clearance and CBSA duty are still the buyer's responsibility, exactly as they would be under DAP to the same warehouse — DPU's only real addition here is that unloading step, which has to be genuinely arranged (equipment, labour, timing with the warehouse's own receiving process) rather than assumed to happen automatically.

What UAL handles for you

On a DPU shipment, we confirm the named place actually has — or we've arranged — the capability to unload the shipment, and coordinate the final domestic trucking and unloading directly, rather than treating DPU as functionally identical to DAP and leaving the unloading step unaddressed until the truck is already at the buyer's dock.

Unloading capability confirmed at the named place

Final-mile trucking coordinated directly

IATA Accredited Cargo Agent

Frequently asked questions

Only the unloading step. Under DAP, the seller delivers the goods ready for unloading; the buyer unloads them. Under DPU, the seller is responsible for actually unloading the goods at the named place. Everything else — risk transfer point, buyer handling import clearance — is the same.

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DAP (Delivered at Place)

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid)

Incoterms 2020 rules, DPU obligations A1–A10/B1–B10 (formerly DAT under Incoterms 2010): International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Incoterms 2020. Last verified: August 2026.