The importer of record is the party established in the Union that declares the goods to customs, is liable for the customs debt and carries the food law obligations of the operator placing the food on the Union market.
The Incoterms rule does not decide it. The two interact, and confusing them is a common and expensive error.
- Under FCA or ex works, the buyer arranges carriage from a point in the seller’s country and will normally be the importer of record.
- Under DAP, the seller arranges carriage to a named place in the buyer’s country, but the buyer is still normally the importer of record and handles the import clearance.
- Under DDP, the seller undertakes import clearance and duties, which means the seller must be able to act as importer of record in the Union. A seller without an established Union presence or a formal arrangement with one cannot actually perform a DDP contract, whatever the invoice says.
Write the importer of record into the contract explicitly. Then check the practical consequences: the EORI number, who instructs the customs agent, who receives the entry documents and who is named on the certificate of inspection if the goods are organic.
Selling DDP without having resolved these points is the single most common way a first shipment stops at the border.