New Colombian customs regulation on inbound Bills of Lading

09 Jun 2009

Dear Valued Customer,

All vessels departing for Colombia from 1 June 2009 must comply with the new Colombian customs regulation which mandates that all inbound Bills of Lading include the following information:

1. Shipper: Full Name, Full Address, Phone Number and Country.

2. Consignee: Full Name, Full Address, Phone Number, Tax ID number of the company (locally called NIT) or personal ID number of the individual (for instances whereby the consignee is not a company but a person). For illustration purposes, this ID number comprises 9 positions and 1 check digit: 123.456.789-0.

3. For multimodal Bills of Lading, the consignee field must clearly state the function that is to be performed. This can either be OTM (Multimodal Transit Operation) or DTA (Customs Transit Declaration), with information to be provided in advance by consignees to their respective shippers.

Note: APL does not perform the multimodal movement. We will deliver the cargo at port to the corresponding consignee or notify party, who will be responsible for the inland movement. Such movements can only take place if the Bills of Lading clearly indicates the multimodal move as stated above.

4. Notify party: Same requirements as for the consignee field.

5. Detailed description of goods for each container, including weight, volume and number of packages per container.

6. For dangerous and hazardous cargo, the UN number and all relevant information on cargo description including contact person for emergency purposes must be provided.

Any changes or amendments to inbound Bills of Lading made within the 5 days prior to the arrival of the vessel in Colombia must be approved by APL Colombia. Any Bills of Lading not complying with this will result in seizure of cargo and penalties. As such, we would appreciate your strict observation of this new regulation.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your local customer service or APL representative, if you require further assistance or information.

Yours Sincerely,