Voice of International Business

FOC sounds like the Incoterms, FOB. However, it is a trade term not a recognized Incoterms. People dealing with import business may have seen various types of imports. In most of the cases payments must be made for the items imported. In some cases no payment is made. Every country has its own import policies and guiding rules for international trade. Procedures for import on FOC basis also differs based on those policies and rules. In Bangladesh this procedure is guided by the Import Policy Order (in force) from Ministry of Finance. It is also termed as Import on “No Cost Basis”. What is FOC or Free of Cost Import FOC or Free of Cost import means the process of importing goods for which no payment has to be made from the importing country. When goods are sent from abroad as a gift, free sample, replacement or raw materials for producing the ordered produce in the receiving country, no payment is required to be made by the importer. There are some limits for maximum amount of such impo