ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the legal nature of “cost, insurance and freight” (C.I.F.) and “free on board” (F.O.B.) contracts for the international sale of goods. In legal teleological terms, the tender of the bill of lading substitutes the delivery of the goods. The commercial nature of a C.I.F. contract translates into two subordinate contracts the seller is obliged to enter into: the contract of carriage, also referred to as the contract of affreightment, and the contract of insurance. A C.I.F. contract is equally gainful for a buyer, as the buyer does not have to undertake transport or insurance arrangements and, as will be readily appreciated in the following, is in the position to trade the goods whilst the goods are in transit. A number of early common law judgments seem to point towards the presumption that C.I.F. contracts constitute a sale of documents.
