Mandatories supported since Scope 24.8.

The Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) program serves as a proactive measure to screen air shipments for potential security threats before they reach U.S. soil. To achieve this, shipment details are transmitted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before cargo departs for the United States. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) then conduct a collaborative review to detect any possible risks. ACAS responds to these submissions with acknowledgment messages to the airline and may issue holds if necessary.

When the new CBP ACAS regulations became effective these days, Scope customers could lay back and relax. The new enhancements had been implemented in Scope already before. Mandatory fields are supported since Scope version 24.8, and some optional fields have been added in the new 24.10 version to support the CBP risk analysis even further. All transmissions are 100% aligned with the updated IATA OCI composition rules and CBP’s ACAS Implementation Guide. 

Here’s what’s new in Scope:

  • In addition to the existing fields of the shipper's and consignee's phone number and email address, another field for the shippers' phone number meets the new requirements of the CBP. This way, it is assured that the contacts' number is visible and thus available at any step of the procedure. In all cases it is assumed that the shippers' and consignee's phone numbers and email addresses are provided and verified.
  • Another field pertains the Customer Account Establishment date plus partner code of the shipper. This involves utilizing the creation date of the shipper partner's master data and the partner code as default values. Both fields are customizable within the partner master data as well as in the shipment data.
  • With Scope 24.10 additional data fields for 'Relationship Type' and 'Payment Type' are supported for the messages. These data-fields are populated from the partner master data of shipper/consignee, if maintained. The relevant fields in the partner profile are 'Business Type' (Business/Private person/Intercompany) as well as from the 'Debtor' role the fields 'Payment Type' and 'Invoicing Procedure'. An individual entry per Waybill is not supported.
  • The print menu of air export shipments offers the option to create the new 'Established Business Relationship Statement' document, if wished or needed.

Thus Scope makes managing customs formalities easier to meet U.S. CBP regulations in FWB/FHL communication, keeping users' business running smoothly and compliant. With Scope, forwarders are top notch ahead in the air cargo industry – and always on the safe side.

Related article in our Knowledge Base:
How do I meet U.S. ACAS regulations in FWB/FHL communication from Scope?