ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION
TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP
EIGHTEENTH MEETING – MIYAZAKI, JAPAN
OCTOBER 2000
STEERING COMMITTEE ON MORE COMPETITIVE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY (INCLUDING INFRASTRUCTURE)
PORT EXPERTS GROUP
PROGRESS REPORT ON THE ELECTRONIC PORT MANIFEST PROJECT
Submitted by Australia
September 2000
LEAD ECONOMY: AUSTRALIA
EIGHTEENTH APEC TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP
MEETING – MIYAZAKI, JAPAN – OCTOBER 2000
AGENDA ITEM : Progress Report on the Electronic Port Manifest Project
Australia
Background
At its 17th meeting in March 2000 the TPT-WG endorsed the Australian proposal for an Electronic Port Manifest Project to be conducted by the Port Experts Group. Japan and Canada co-sponsored the project. The BMC gave the final funding approval for US$ 49,900 from the TILF account in July 2000.
The objective of this project is to identify options for creating an electronic document for port manifests, which could be combined with harmonised electronic customs declarations. A consultant will identify current practices regarding port manifests and customs declarations in electronic form and paper format in APEC economies, visit a number of APEC economies to prepare case studies (success stories and challenges), and provide a report including best practice recommendations to APEC.
The project will provide an opportunity for APEC to utilise the true benefit of electronic commerce through the streamlining and re-engineering of processes in the area of cargo manifests for ports and customs authorities, which have a large number of common data elements.
SCCP Involvement
Work on common data elements in the customs area performed by the SCCP and the G8 will be the basis for this project. However, the project will not duplicate SCCP efforts and will require only minimal cooperation from the SCCP.
Visits of the consultant to customs authorities would be on a purely voluntary basis; ie the consultant would visit only customs authorities that wish to contribute.
The project proposal has been circulated to SCCP members for consideration prior to the BMC meeting in July 2000.
Current Status
Australia has circulated 3 questions to PEG members and will summarise the responses at TPT-WG 18
1. Can cargo manifests be provided to port authorities electronically in your economy? If yes, what kind of network (VAN, Internet, etc.) and message (UN/EDIFACT, web form, email, etc) are used for transmitting this information?
2. Can cargo manifests be provided to customs authorities electronically in your economy? If yes, what kind of network (VAN, Internet, etc.) and message (UN/EDIFACT, web form, email, etc) are used for transmitting this information?
3. Is the same declaration acceptable for port and customs authorities? If separate transmissions are required, what is the difference in the supplied information?
In addition Port Experts Group members have been invited to make short presentations on the status of electronic port manifests in their economy at TPT-WG 18.
Proposed Timetable
Early 2001 Selection of suitable consultant
July to August 2001 Consultant to begin work on the project; ie initial research and analysis
September to December 2001 Consultant to visit selected ports, customs authorities and other relevant organisations in the APEC region
March 2002 Final report to be delivered to TPT-WG 21
Recommendation
It is recommended that the above progress report be noted and that economies advise Australia if they are interested to participate in the project.
This page was last updated on 20 Sept., 2000
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