Trade Tech hosts Japan Customs advanced filing seminars

   The cloud-based logistics software supplier Trade Tech said Wednesday it will co-host a series of seminars on Japan’s Advance Filing Rules with Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (NACCS), the Japanese government entity responsible for import/export and Customs clearance.
   The seminars are designed to help non-vessel-operating common carriers, freight forwarders and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) prepare for the new rule, set to take effect in March 2014. The rule will require them to electronically submit detailed information on ocean container cargoes at least 24 hours before departure of the vessel from a port of loading.
   Trade Tech held the first seminar in Shanghai last week, with others to follow in the Chinese cities of Ningbo, Jin Jiang and Hong Kong, as well as in Taiwan and India. Webinars covering the same material will be available to the shipping community in Europe and North America.
   Trade Tech is one of the first providers to have its Automated Manifest System (AMS) electronic filing solution authorized by NACCS.
   The solution, known as Syrinx, uses Web 2.0 technology and already meets 24-hour advance filing rules in North America and the European Union.
   “Japan’s 24-hour filing rule will be absolutely mandatory on March 1, 2014, and if shippers are not compliant and the filing is rejected, the penalty is $5000 or a year in jail with hard labor,” said Trade Tech president Bryn Heimbeck, in a statement. “Our goal is to help NVOs, forwarders and BCOs avoid any and all penalties and to make it easy for them to meet their filing requirements.”
   Heimbeck said many companies don’t understand that they must have a server in Japan to conduct the filings with NACCS.
   “We see the Japan 24-Hour Rule and the standardized information required for similar rules in the U.S., Asia and EU as a positive for everyone involved with international commerce as it will ultimately speed up the flow of goods,” he said. – Eric Johnson