Trade Contracts

The IFA Trade Contract Templates were developed by IFA as a service to the industry in order to provide a clear understanding by buyer and seller of their obligations and rights when entering into a contractual agreement.

Each template comprises two parts: Commercial Terms, into which Parties would insert negotiated commercial terms of trade; and Terms & Conditions which set out certain rights and responsibilities of each Party. The Terms & Conditions include commonly used terms and conditions in fertilizer sales agreements. The Parties are free to incorporate any revisions/amendments that may be applicable in their circumstances.

The templates are made available in Word format and in interactive .pdf form, allowing users to select from among the provided standard clauses. This offers flexibility to Parties to use the template as is, or select those clauses they would like to have, or as a starting point with the option to include additional provisions. Parties involved in a transaction can jointly negotiate any Commercial Terms. These forms can be used by various players across the supply chain (e.g. Manufacturer > Trader and Trader > End User).

Each Contract Template is accompanied by User Guidelines, which provide basic information on each section/clause of the Commercial Terms. The Guidelines are not prescriptive but offer additional precisions and explanations on the content of each section of the Commercial Terms.

The templates address sales terms and associated vessel/marine/shipping terms. This first series focuses on seaborne dry bulk shipments for FOB, CIF or CFR contracts.