CONTAINER LINES WANT NVOS TO FILE COMPLETE MANIFESTS TO U.S. CUSTOMS

CONTAINER LINES WANT NVOS TO FILE COMPLETE MANIFESTS TO U.S. CUSTOMS    A group of the world’s largest liner carriers has asked Congress to ensure in future maritime security legislation that non-vessel-operating common carriers file complete manifests to the U.S. government.
   Both Senate and House versions of the maritime security legislation would require all carrier cargo manifests to be filed electronically through Customs Automated Manifest System. Customs officials have indicated that it would require ocean carriers to file import cargo manifests 24 hours before loading in a foreign port.
   However, the ocean carriers are concerned about the split between the Senate and House versions of the maritime security legislation as it relates to NVO manifest filing requirements. The Senate bill would require NVOs to electronically file manifest data to Customs. The House version does not.
   “It is essential that the final legislation either require NVOs to file cargo manifests with the Customs Services for shipments for which they are responsible in the same time, manner and form as ocean carriers, or give this information to the ocean carrier to file with its manifest (an option that neither the NVOs nor the ocean carriers want),” said Christopher Koch, president and chief executive officer of the World Shipping Council, at a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation field hearing on maritime security in Seattle Monday.
   Koch told the committee, which was overseen by Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that NVOs manage 30 to 40 percent of the world’s containerized freight.
   NVOs “issue the bills of lading to the shipper; they know the cargo descriptions; and they know the identity of the shipper and the consignee,” Koch said. “Today, the only manifested information required for NVO-controlled containers is from the ocean carrier’s manifest, which typically provides only a very limited cargo description (e.g. ‘freight all kinds’ or FAK), and contains no information about the actual shippers or consignees of the cargo.”