Corah Ann Robertson-Sylvester (left), chief executive officer of Seaboard Jamaica, responds to a question from the audience during the Shipping Association of Jamaica-sponsored Lunch and Learn in Montego Bay, last Thursday, while David Ross, vice-president of Seafreight Lines, and Claudette Coombs, director of operations at Jamaica Customs, look on.

Members of the shipping community in Montego Bay will soon be able to submit manifests electronically, Claudette Coombs, director of operations at Jamaica Customs, announced.

Speaking at the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ)-sponsored Lunch and Learn Seminar at the Pelican in the Second City last Thursday, Combs said that an all-user account for the submission of e-manifests had been created to accommodate electronic submissions. An e-manifest system facilitates the submission of the carriers manifest electronically prior to the arrival of the vessel.

A pilot implementation of the E-manifest system is scheduled to run between July and August this year at Kingston Wharves Limited. Montego Bay will benefit immediately after.

Coombs was one of three speakers at the seminar, which focused on the "impact of the United States slowdown on the shipping industry," and "customs modernisation and how it affects the shipping industry."

The electronic submission of manifests was introduced at Berth 11, in 1999, and a full implementation of the system came later in 2006. Since the Electronic Transactions Act came into effect on April 2, 2007, consumer confidence in the e-manifest system was boosted. This has led to the expansion of the system.

The Electronic Transactions Act provides the legal framework to promote local and international confidence in the integrity and reliability of electronic documents and electronic transactions.

The Act applies to the formation, by means of electronic transactions, of agreements for the supply of goods, services or facilities by any supplier who:

In Jamaica, offers goods, services or facilities, for sale, hire or exchange, to any person in or outside of Jamaica

Whether in or outside of Jamaica, offers goods, services or facilities, for sale, hire or exchange, to any person in Jamaica.

The act provides a specific provision for consumers to lodge complaints to the Consumer Affairs Commission in accordance with section seven of the Consumer Protection Act.

Features and benefits of the e-manifest system are:

Electronic submission of vessel declaration (C4).

Electronic submission of amendment, goods movement and transhipment forms.

Electronic response from Customs to agents.

Reduced processing time for incoming cargo.

Online look-up facility for agents.

Register at www.jacustoms.gov.jm/emanifests

Next week's issue will focus on the 'impact of the United States slowdown on the shipping industry' as presented by Corah Ann Robertson-Sylvester and David Ross.