Gaithersburg, MD — June 11, 2003 — B2B connectivity specialist Global eXchange Services (GXS) this week unveiled a new hosted services designed to serve as a communications pass-through for inbound shipping lines that need to facilitate document exchange with the U.S. customs service to comply with new security initiatives.
Enacted by the U.S. Congress and implemented by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in December 2002, the mandatory 24-Hour Manifest Rule requires that carriers and NVOCCs (non-vessel operating common carriers) — those companies that do not own or operate ships but arrange transport of cargo — electronically submit their manifests 24 hours before containerized cargo is loaded aboard a U.S.-bound vessel at a foreign port.
The rule is intended to give the CBP time to evaluate the security threat risk of cargo containers before they arrive in the U.S. The 24-Hour Rule forces carriers or NVOCCs to transmit manifest information to U.S. Customs in an accurate and timely manner or face the potential for Customs seizure and costly penalties.
GXS said that its U.S. Customs Connect service can increase transaction efficiency by transmitting documents from a variety of data formats, including internationally recognized electronic data interchange (EDI) formats, into such CBP applications as Automated Manifest Systems (AMS), Automated Export Systems (AES), Electronic Visa Systems (ELVIS) and Customers and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR).
"GXS implemented its U.S. Customs Connect service so that importing and exporting trading partners could take advantage of a real-time transaction capability with U.S. Customs," said Derek Yiu, a marketing director at GXS. "GXS' provides audit trails, backup and recovery services, without the need for expensive additional software or frame relay circuits."
"By using the GXS U.S. Customs Connect service, we did not have to implement the communication infrastructure necessary to electronically transmit documents," said Guihua Luo, director and general manager at Shanghai E&P International, the company charged by the Shanghai Municipal Government with constructing and operating Shanghai Port's integrated logistics information system. "Additionally, the quick ramping process has allowed us to meet the compliance deadline of the 24-Hour Rule."
For more information on transportation management systems, see the Global Enabled Supply and Demand Chain Series article on this space in the upcoming June/July 2003 issue of iSource Business.
For more information on solutions for supply chain security, see the Net Best Thing article in the upcoming June/July 2003 issue of iSource Business.
