23 October 2008

IATA e-freight initiative takes off in U.S.

The following was reported on in the 23 October 2008 edition of “American Shipper”.

The International Air Transport Association said Wednesday its e-freight initiative has gone live at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the first U.S. location to feature paper-free air freight.

The launch was led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the cargo operations at American and United airlines. IATA's e-freight has commenced between the trade lanes of New York and London by American and British Airways, and New York and Amsterdam by KLM Cargo, with further expansion to other routes planned, IATA said.

The e-freight initiative requires that business, technical and legal frameworks are in place to allow airlines and freight forwarders, customs administrations and governments to "seamlessly" exchange electronic information and e-documents instead of paper. E-freight essentially eliminates the need to send 13 documents with air cargo shipments, improving speed and reliability as well as eliminating more than $1.2 billion in annual industry costs, IATA said.

Also involved in the U.S. e-freight implementation are DHL Global Forwarding and Kuehne + Nagel, along with other stakeholders such as Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, CFI Community Forwarders, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, Pilot Air Freight and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

IATA has set a deadline for the end of 2010 to implement e-freight where feasible.

So far, IATA has implemented e-freight in eight other international locations: Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, South Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom and plans to expand the program to 14 locations by year-end.