The most significant aspect of international trade is the sale of goods that must
be carried from one place to another. Such type of sale must be understood to be
included within the subject matter of the law of navigation, in accordance with the
original vocation of maritime law, when carriage was essentially linked to trade and
to sale of goods. In the daily practice of international commerce, the sale of goods to
be carried is regulated by the INCOTERMS®, clauses drafted by the International
Chamber of Commerce, derived from those used in operating practice and periodi-
cally updated; they are normative models that the parties can incorporate into their
agreement, giving them contractual effects. The INCOTERMS® consist of eleven
clauses, some of which can be used for maritime transport only and others for all
types of transport. They regulate differently the parties’ obligations, depending on
when and where delivery of the goods takes place: at departure (terms marked by
letter E), at the beginning of the main transport arranged by the buyer (terms marked
by letter F) or by the seller (terms marked by letter C), at destination (terms marked
by letter D). They reconnect to the delivery the passing of the risk of carriage (i.e., the
incidence on the seller or on the buyer of the loss of the goods during the carriage
operations), regardless of the ownership of the goods. Therefore, the Italian case law
that considers INCOTERMS® as suitable for establishing the allocation of the costs
of the carriage, but not also the risks of the same, should be disregarded.
