Entrepôt

Entrepôt

A seaport or warehouse where goods are stored until they are shipped. The goods do not face any import or export duties upon shipment from the port or warehouse.

Notes:

The use of entrepôts dates back to the original long distance sea trade routes. The benefit of the entrepôt in the past was that it removed the need for ships to travel the whole distance of the shipping route. The ships would sell their goods to the entrepôt and the entrepôt would in turn sell them to another ship, removing the large risks associated with long distance travel in the past. For example if a ship was carrying spices from China is could sell the spices to an entrepôt in India and the entrepôt could sell the spices to a ship heading to England.

See also: Cost and Freight - CFR, Cost, Insurance, and Freight - CIF, Delivered Ex Ship - DES, Export, Free Alongside - FAS, Import, Tariff, Trade Sanction