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.