Like the United States, Japan wants the cargo data before the ship sails, not when it arrives. The Advance Filing Rules (AFR) make the carrier and the NVOCC file maritime container cargo information with Japan Customs at least 24 hours before the vessel departs the port of loading. Skip it and the cargo simply can't be discharged in Japan. Nexport Logistics files the AFR for your Japan shipments in the Nexportal platform.
What the AFR is
The AFR ("Advance Filing Rules on Maritime Container Cargo Information", a pre-departure filing) has been in force since March 2014. The data is submitted electronically through NACCS (the Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System), Japan's customs/port IT backbone. It's a security measure: Japan Customs risk-assesses the cargo before it's loaded toward Japan.
Who files, and at which bill
As with the US, the responsibility is split by bill of lading:
- the shipping company files the Master B/L cargo information;
- the NVOCC files the House B/L cargo information, which is mandatory for NVOCCs (set out in the Customs Law enforcement orders).
So on a consolidated shipment there's a master filing and a house filing, each by the party that issued that bill.
The deadline
No later than 24 hours before the vessel departs the port of loading. It's a pre-departure rule, measured against the ship leaving the foreign port — unlike the US AMS and China CCAM, which run off loading. So the data has to be right well before sailing.
What non-compliance costs
Japan's Customs Law prescribes penalties for missing or false filings. And operationally the bite is direct: if the cargo information isn't filed by the deadline, the cargo cannot be unloaded without Customs' permission of discharge. The container then crosses the ocean only to sit on board with nowhere to go. A filing that takes minutes at origin spares you that whole standoff in the discharge port.
How Nexport Logistics handles it
We file the AFR for the master and the house bill through NACCS, accurately and before the 24-hour cut-off, so your Japan-bound cargo is cleared to load and to discharge. It runs with your B/L, Customs and booking in Nexportal.
Shipping to Japan? Email info@nexportlogistics.nl.
Official source: Japan Customs — Advance Filing Rules on Maritime Container Cargo Information. Related: Usa Import Filings · China Ccam · Customs