Introduction to e-Manifest

A few years ago, the United States passed The Trade Act of 2002 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The law mandates that all cargo shipped to the US provide electronic notice to US Customs and Border Protection in advance of arrival. Advance Notice for trucks was set at 1 hour prior to arrival (30 minutes for FAST), and upon full implementation of the Trade Act later this year, will only be met via e-Manifest.

Since 2002, there have been considerable delays by US Customs due to upgrades in their computer systems. Customs has now almost completely implemented the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) which provides them with data to enhance their screening processes. A significant piece of ACE is Truck AMS, commonly known as e-Manifest - the system that captures truck manifest information electronically. e-Manifest is simply an electronic version of the current manifest you use with additional data. However, that additional information is overwhelming - over 150 separate data elements.

Trucks entering the United States will be required to transmit the advance information through the ACE Truck Manifest System (e-Manifest) on a rolling implementation schedule - always with a minimum of 90 days notice. You can see the implementation schedule on our Port Guide.