In August 2024, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) introduced new data requirements for cargo destined for or transiting through the U.S. These requirements raised questions. In this article, we provide answers to questions we can address.
Update as of October 2nd, 2024
During the last week of September, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) unofficially announced plans to engage in further discussions with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to address existing 'inconsistencies and questions'. However, given that IATA and CBP have already reached an agreement on the transmission of crucial field data through CargoIMP messages, Riege Software has proceeded to incorporate essential field data into the messages. This enhancement aligns with the standardized approach proposed by IATA.
Specifically, these fields pertain to shipments destined for or passing through the United States:
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Phone number of the shipper, if provided, with the assumption that the entered phone number has been verified.
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Email address of the shipper, if provided, with the assumption that the entered email address has been verified.
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The Customer Account Establishment date plus partner code of the shipper. This involves utilizing the creation date of the shipper partner's master data and the partner code as default values. Both fields are customizable within the partner master data, under the 'forwarding customer' role, within the 'air export' tab, and through the 'add/edit custom e-AWB address' function: Master Data > Partner ... open a partner > Roles tab > Role Forwarding customer > Air freight export tab
To implement these modifications, updating to Scope version 24.8.35 is necessary.
Riege Software highly appreciates the effort and performance of IATA for endeavoring to find a global solution for the industry within the existing messaging option limitations. We trust that these adjustments will facilitate our customers in proceeding with shipments into the United States of America. We commit to monitoring changes and requirements closely and maintaining ongoing communication with IATA on this matter.
Kindly be informed that augmenting Scope Air Export with all data fields from the CBP wishlist proved unfeasible to implement in Scope due to the urgency and short notice of the enhanced ACAS requirements. We are actively tracking further developments and adapting to additional changes concerning this matter as they arise and become relevant.
Original Article
The ACAS requirements published on 21 August 2024 initially directly affect the airlines [1]. Freight forwarders who carry out the optional self-filing for ACAS (Air Cargo Advanced Screening) are also directly affected — but no Scope air freight customer opted for ACAS self-filing.
The official IATA CargoIMP messages FWB and FHL are incompatible with these new requirements from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Adding the proposed changes from CBP to existing messages would come with a high risk of airlines completely rejecting the messages due to processing errors. This would then not only break the processing of the waybill data at the airline but also prevent forwarding of the messages to ACAS and make the situation worse.
How do I transmit the phone number of shipper and consignee?
The shipper's and consignee's contact name and telephone numbers can already be entered in the Scope master data and are basically always transmitted if available. There are elements in the electronic Waybill (FWB message) and electronic House (FHL message) for contact name and phone number.
How do I transmit the email address of shipper and consignee?
The FWB does not contain elements for the email addresses. Consequently, the AWB entry does not show these fields.
We cannot indicate yet in which part and exactly how the email addresses should be added to the AWB. The relevant IATA working group is aware of the situation. IATA is working to provide clear guidance to prevent the adoption of various inconsistent workarounds, which would not benefit anyone involved.
When will there be a final solution?
At this time, it is advisable to await IATA's standardized approach. Riege Software is actively collaborating with IATA and participating in key working groups. Riege Software already participated by providing feedback on an IATA proposal. Once IATA releases its recommendations, we will be able to implement specific changes and share further information. You can be assured that we do all we can and as fast as we can to offer a proper and lasting solution in Scope.
Some customers ask for the @ sign to be added to the FWB/FHL in Scope. We can only do this if all parties involved allow this sign. Currently, this cannot be guaranteed. Additionally, the CBP expects the email address in a designated field, not just contained in a free text field.
Some customers ask us to send their FWB/FHL via CargoXML. We can only do this if the recipients involved are capable to process CargoXML. Currently, this is not the case. Moreover, XML is not a prerequisite for transmitting the @ sign.
Sources
[1] https://www.cbp.gov/document/guides/air-cargo-advance-screening-acas-implementation-guide