1.1 Preface

DCSA envisions a digitally interconnected container shipping industry. Our mission is to be the de facto standards body for the industry, setting the technological foundation for interoperable IT solutions. Together with our member carriers, DCSA creates vendor-neutral standards for IT and non-competitive business practices. By working towards the widespread adoption of these standards, our aim is to move the industry forward in terms of customer experience, efficiency, collaboration, innovation, and respect for the environment. The objective of DCSA standards is to strengthen the container shipping industry’s ability to send and receive data across all parties in the industry. Furthermore, it aims to enhance inter-carrier cooperation based on shared requirements and to ensure interoperability by using a shared data language. This language is inspired by existing standards and is aligned with the industry process definitions put forth in the DCSA Industry Blueprint.Apart from the reliance on a small set of widely used open-source technologies and standards (e.g. JSON, REST, OpenAPI), the standards published by DCSA are technology agnostic.This chapter describes the purpose, scope and supporting publications of this standard.
The objective of DCSA standards is to strengthen the container shipping industry’s ability to send and receive data across all parties in the industry.

1.2 Purpose

The objective of the DCSA Interface Standard for the Bill of Lading is to simplify the exchange of information between shipper, carrier and consignee/endorsee for the submission of shipping instructions, the issuance, amendment and surrender of transport documents.In doing so, this publication supports standardisation of the fundamental information exchanged between these parties. The focus of this publication is to ensure agreement on the shared requirements and standards that must be followed to streamline inter-operational functionality and data sharing across relevant industry participants.Agreement on standards will ensure that data exchange interfaces, including functionality and data provided, will follow the same definitions and design. The aim is to ensure that the end-user experience remains consistent across all industry participants who use these standards without the need for customisation. The standard must therefore be implemented in a 100% conformant way by every adopter in the ecosystem.

1.3 Scope

The scope of the Interface Standard for the Bill of Lading is summarised in the table below.

Topic

Description

Actors

The Interface Standard describes all exchanges of information between any two parties. For the Bill of Lading process the most relevant parties are:

  • Shipper
  • Consignee
  • Endorsee
  • eBL Platform
  • Carrier

Many other parties may be involved in the exchange of information regarding shipments, such as financial institutions, customs and tax authorities. These actors are out of scope of this publication.

Scope

The Interface Standard addresses the following types of cargo:

  • Containerised cargo​
  • Standard dry cargo, reefer, dangerous goods​

The following types of documents are encompassed in the standard:

  • Shipping Instructions
  • Transport Document
  • Bill of Lading
  • Sea Waybill

Document types

  • Shipping Instructions: An enrichment to the booking request submitted by the shipper and the resulting booking confirmation sent by the carrier. The Shipping Instructions include final shipment parties, goods description, volume, weight, and other special instructions. The information given by the shipper through the Shipping Instructions is the main source of information that is required to create the Transport Document.
  • Transport Document: The document that governs the terms of carriage between shipper and carrier, which can be in hard copy or digital format. Two distinct types of Transport Document exist:
  • Bill of Lading: Contractual document issued to the shipper which confirms the carrier's receipt of the cargo, acknowledges goods being shipped or received for shipment, and specifies the terms of delivery (as evidence of the contract of carriage). The Bill of Lading is a document of title to the goods and can be a negotiable document. Negotiability implies that the document can be transferred from one party to another, and the transfer of the document is necessary for the transfer of ownership of the goods. The Bill of Lading is usually prepared based on Shipping Instructions, including cargo description, given by the shipper on forms issued by the carrier. When issued in digital format it is referred to as an electronic Bill of Lading (eBL).
  • Sea Waybill: A non-negotiable document which is evidence of contract of carriage and receipt of the goods. A Sea Waybill is not a document of title, it must be issued to a named consignee and is not transferable to a third party. The consignee can take possession of the goods without presenting the original Sea Waybill. A standard Sea Waybill is normally issued as a pdf document. An electronic Sea Waybill (eSWB) is issued as a JSON file.

Modules

The entire Bill of Lading life cycle, which includes: ​

  • Shipping Instructions submission and update
  • Draft Transport Document publication, update and approval
  • Transport Document issuance, amendment and surrender

1.4 Supporting publications

This standard is supported by a range of supplementary DCSA publications. The supporting publications are listed in the table below.

Publication

Overview

DCSA Bill of Lading 3.0 Data overview

This document contains a complete list of the data attributes that are relevant input for the use cases defined in the Interface Standard for Bill of Lading 3.0.0, including a stipulation as to whether the properties are mandatory, conditional mandatory, or optional per use case.

DCSA Information Model 2024.Q3

This document has been created to organise and catalogue the information being generated or consumed in connection with the processes described in the DCSA Industry Blueprint. The Information Model is also used as a collective term to describe all products that model data. It includes a diagrammatic representation of selected data entities and their relationships with one another.

DCSA Shipping Glossary of Terms

This document explains international container shipping terminology used within the industry, fostering communication and promoting standardisation among stakeholders.

DCSA Industry Blueprint 2023.Q4

This document consists of a compilation of business processes that are considered critical for industry digitalisation and standardisation efforts, and that are not considered commercially sensitive or of competitive advantage. It offers an interactive way to understand the container shipping industry by providing industry-approved processes and data definitions. Additionally, it visually demonstrates the domains where DCSA's standards are applied. 

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State Transition Diagrams