CUSCAR
CUSCAR is the UN/EDIFACT message used by ocean carriers, freight forwarders and NVOCCs to report cargo electronically to customs authorities. It is the foundation of advance cargo reporting requirements imposed worldwide after 9/11 — including the US 24-Hour Rule, the EU's ICS2, and similar regimes in China, India and the Gulf.
A CUSCAR message contains the cargo declaration data: shipper, consignee, commodity description, HS code, weight, volume, value, container numbers, packaging type, country of origin, and routing. Customs authorities use this data to perform risk-based targeting before the vessel arrives.
Modern freight platforms generate CUSCAR messages automatically from the shipment record, transmit them via the relevant customs gateway, and process the customs response (CUSRES) which indicates acceptance or rejection.
CUSCAR is the message behind advance cargo reporting worldwide — the US 24-Hour Rule, the EU's ICS2 and similar regimes. It lets customs risk-target cargo before the vessel arrives, which is why filing it accurately and on time is non-negotiable: a rejected or late report can hold the whole shipment.
risk-targets pre-arrival
What is the 24-Hour Rule?
A US advance-cargo-reporting requirement that cargo details be filed with customs at least 24 hours before a container is loaded onto a US-bound vessel — one of the regimes CUSCAR serves.
What is CUSRES?
The UN/EDIFACT customs-response message that customs returns after a CUSCAR filing, indicating whether the declaration is accepted or rejected.