DAP stands for Delivered at Place. The seller takes the goods to the named place in the destination country and puts them at the buyer's disposal, ready for unloading and not cleared for import.
Under the DAP and DPU Incoterms, the seller takes the goods to the named place in the buyer's country and does not handle import clearance. The difference between them is unloading: under DAP the buyer unloads, under DPU the seller unloads, and risk only passes once the cargo is on the ground.
It reads like contract detail until the truck backs into your dock and nobody knows who calls the forklift. For imports into Brazil the two rules carry extra weight, because they are the only destination terms that do not run into the ban on DDP.
What does the seller take on under DAP and DPU?
The whole journey to the agreed place in the destination country, with export clearance done and import clearance left out. The official description used in Siscomex (Brazil's federal foreign trade system) says that, under DAP, the seller places the goods at the buyer's disposal "at a place indicated in the country of destination, ready to be unloaded from the arriving vehicle and not cleared for import". Source: Camex (Brazil's Foreign Trade Chamber) Resolution No. 16/2020.
The DPU text changes three words and changes the operation: the goods are placed at the buyer's disposal "unloaded from the arriving vehicle but not cleared for import".
Under both rules, the seller covers:
- packing, inland haulage and export clearance at origin;
- international carriage to the named place of destination;
- the risk to the goods across that whole journey;
- under DPU, unloading at destination and the cost of it.
The buyer handles import clearance, entry taxes and everything beyond the delivery point. Both rules work with any mode, including air and express, and both allow buyer and seller to use their own means of transport for parts of the journey.
DAP and DPU are two of the 11 rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The other nine are covered in the guide What are Incoterms®?. When delivery stops at origin instead of running to destination, the matching rule is FCA, set out in the guide to the FCA Incoterm in Brazil.
What is the practical difference between DAP and DPU?
One thing only: who takes the cargo off the vehicle. The ICC puts it plainly when explaining the 2020 name change: under DAP the seller does not unload the goods, under DPU the seller does unload them. DPU is the only one of the 11 rules that obliges the seller to unload.
The table shows where that lands in the operation and in the cost:
Criterion | DAP | DPU |
Who unloads at destination | Buyer | Seller |
Who pays for unloading | Buyer, if not in the carriage contract | Seller |
Where risk passes | On arrival, goods ready for unloading | After the goods are unloaded |
Import clearance | Buyer | Buyer |
Entry duties and taxes | Buyer | Buyer |
Mode of transport | Any | Any |
Place of delivery | Any named point | Any named point, including the buyer's warehouse |
DPU grew out of the old DAT, delivered at terminal. Camex Resolution No. 16/2020 records the change: the rule was defined to replace DAT, with the difference that DAT limited delivery to cargo terminals, while DPU can be used at terminals or at any other agreed place, such as the buyer's warehouse.
Where exactly does risk end under each rule?
Under DAP, when the vehicle reaches the agreed place and the goods are at the buyer's disposal, still on board it. Under DPU, only after the cargo comes down. Source: ICC Academy, Incoterms® 2020.
That gap of a few minutes decides who pays for a real loss. Picture a US$ 40,000 machine delivered to a warehouse in the interior of São Paulo state. If it topples during the lift, under DAP the loss is the buyer's and under DPU it is the seller's. Same cargo, same address, different party, purely because of the wording in the contract.
It applies to cost as well as damage. Under DAP, unloading may or may not be included in the carriage contract the seller arranged. When it is not, the buyer pays for it, without having chosen the carrier.
Why are DAP and DPU the alternatives to DDP for imports into Brazil?
Because DDP simply cannot be used here, and the rule says where to go instead. Camex Resolution No. 16/2020 notes that a foreign seller has no legal means to arrange clearance for goods entering the country, so DDP "cannot be used for Brazilian imports, and DPU or DAP should be chosen" by parties who prefer an ICC rule.
One data point strengthens that choice and rarely gets quoted. In its survey of national regulatory barriers to the Incoterms® 2020 rules, updated in January 2025, the ICC lists restrictions for EXW, FCA, CIP, CIF, FAS, FOB, CFR and DDP. For DAP and DPU the barriers column is empty: no surveyed country restricts the use of either rule.
If a supplier offers "DDP São Paulo", ask for DAP or DPU and let your customs broker handle clearance. What DDP added, the seller paying the entry taxes, is covered in the guide to the DDP Incoterm and Brazil, including what it is worth for exporters leaving Brazil.
What does the Brazilian importer still have to do under DAP?
Everything that happens from the border inwards. Clearance stays with you: filing the declaration, paying the taxes and releasing the cargo. No delivery rule transfers that duty, and the full path is covered in the guide to importing into Brazil.
There is a spreadsheet consequence that usually goes unnoticed. Under Brazil's Customs Regulation, the customs value includes the cost of transport to the customs port or airport of discharge, the loading, unloading and handling charges up to that point and the insurance for the journey, excluding costs incurred in national territory when they are itemised separately from the transport cost. Source: Decree No. 6,759/2009, article 77, as amended by Decree No. 11,090/2022.
Buying DAP with delivery at your warehouse in Campinas means the price carries a Brazilian road leg inside it. Ask the supplier to show that amount separately on the invoice and the transport document. Itemised, it stays outside the tax base; buried in the freight, it goes into the calculation. The full mechanics are in the guide to landed cost.
When should you choose DAP, and when DPU?
Choose DAP when you have unloading capacity and want to control that step. Choose DPU when you do not, or when the cargo needs equipment that only the carrier tends to have.
Cases where DPU pays off:
- machinery, panels or heavy pieces that need a crane or a large forklift;
- delivery to a construction site, a trade fair or any place with no dock and no crew;
- cargo where damage during unloading would be expensive and hard to attribute.
Cases where DAP is the better fit:
- delivery to your own warehouse, with dock, forklift and trained staff;
- standard palletised cargo, where unloading is routine;
- operations where you would rather pay your own unloading cost than the supplier's marked-up version.
Either way, write the full address and the version of the rules, as in "DPU Avenida das Nações 1500, Campinas, Incoterms® 2020". Without the exact point, the argument about where delivery ends shows up at the first delay.
Frequently asked questions about the DAP and DPU Incoterms
DPU stands for Delivered at Place Unloaded. The seller delivers the goods already unloaded from the arriving vehicle, at the agreed point in the destination country, without handling import clearance.
Only unloading. Under DAP the buyer unloads and takes the risk from the moment the vehicle arrives. Under DPU the seller unloads and risk passes after that.
The buyer. Both rules deliver the goods without import clearance, so entry duties and taxes remain the obligation of whoever imports.
Yes. Camex Resolution No. 16/2020 points to DAP or DPU in place of DDP for Brazilian imports, because a foreign seller cannot clear goods into the country.
They do. Both rules cover any mode of transport, including air, road, multimodal and door to door express.
Sources
Delivery at destination, with clearance handled alongside
DAP and DPU bring the cargo to your address, but it only gets there after customs, and that is the stage where schedules usually slip. For companies importing smaller volumes, having transport and clearance in the same hands is worth more than negotiating one extra stretch of road in the contract.
If your business receives parts, samples or urgent batches from abroad, open a DHL Express business account and follow each shipment from departure to your dock, with customs handled along the way.
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