IATA prepares rollout of first e-freight pilots

IATA prepares rollout of first e-freight pilots The International Air Transport Association has announced a handful of key air cargo routes that will become the initial platform to test its paper-free concept.
   The so-called e-freight pilots, scheduled for delivery in 2007, will link the air cargo markets of Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
   IATA designed the pilot to help eliminate the transfer of paperwork when shipping goods by air transport. Today's international air cargo shipment comprises up to 38 documents. Together, the annual volume of paperwork shipped by airlines is enough to fill 39 Boeing 747 freighters. By eliminating this paper, the industry could save about $1.2 billion, according to the Geneva-based association.
   IATA's e-freight pilots require business, technical and legal frameworks to be in place to allow airlines, freight forwarders and customs administrations to electronically exchange information and documents. The association said the five initial pilot locations were picked based on each government's willingness and ability to participate, in addition to the routes' high cargo volumes.
   IATA said carriers Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Singapore Airlines and British Airways in cooperation with the multinational forwarder members of Freight Forward International, and local customs administrations will use the year-long pilots to develop, test and finalize standards, and processes for the e-freight initiative. The association will use these results to expand the pilots to other countries.
   'After 30 years of talk we are seeing leadership and action,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and chief executive officer, in a statement.
   'But make no mistake, achieving an agreement is one thing, achieving results is a another,' he warned. 'The true test will be to deliver results from these pilots so the global rollout of e-freight can begin in earnest.'
   In 2007, IATA will also work with the industry and other progressive governments, such as those in Sweden and Mauritius, to benchmark innovative e-customs initiatives.
   IATA officials have said that for the e-freight program to work at its full potential would ultimately require the involvement of 16,000 stakeholders, which includes 20 industry bodies, 200 customs administrations, 265 airlines and more than 15,000 forwarders.
   For more information about IATA's e-freight initiative, read the November American Shipper, pages 30-32.