The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) published data and process standards for the submission of shipping instructions and issuance of the bill of lading.
Specifically, this is the first publication of DCSA eDocumentation initiative which will deliver standards to enable digitalization of end-to-end container shipping documentation, starting with the bill of lading.
DCSA aims to facilitate acceptance and adoption of an electronic bill of lading (eBL) by regulators, banks and insurers and to unify communication between these organisations and customers, carriers and all other stakeholders involved in a transaction.
The recently launched publication includes the documents of DCSA Standard for the Bill of Lading 1.0, the DCSA Industry Blueprint 3.0, the DCSA Information Model 3.0 and the DCSA Interface Standard for the Bill of Lading. The Standard for the Bill of Lading, Industry Blueprint and Information Modelare immediately available to download for free on the DCSA web site. The Interface Standard will be available for download in January 2021.
Thus, to facilitate implementation and compliance, API definitions will be published on SwaggerHub, and a reference implementation will be available on GitHub, also in January.
It is stated that the eBL standard is the first DCSA standard to be eligible for self-certification under a new DCSA Compliance Programme, which will be published in January 2021.
Any organization that implements the eBL standard may demonstrate compliance by completing a self-certification checklist (SCC). In January, the SCC will be available on the DCSA website along with a Self-Certification Handbook that provides further details about the DCSA compliance programme and the procedure for self-certification. Self-certification for other DCSA standards will be introduced in the subsequent months.
In light of the publication, Thomas Bagge, CEO of DCSA highlighted that
The alignment we’ve achieved among the carriers is a critical milestone on the way to full eBL adoption. Paperless trade will benefit all parties involved in a transaction in terms of cost reduction, customer experience, efficiency, growth, innovation and sustainability. We invite all industry stakeholders to collaborate with us on optimising eDocumentation standards for safely and seamlessly delivering goods to their final destination.
