The National Advance Information Center (NAIC) has announced an extension of the grace period for the UAE Maritime Pre-Load Cargo Information (MPCI) filing requirement until September 30, 2026.
The extension is intended to support industry stakeholders in achieving full compliance by allowing additional time to enhance readiness, improve data quality, and align operational processes with the MPCI requirements.
What the extension means
MPCI filings continue to be required in accordance with the published requirements during the extended grace period. NAIC has confirmed that all stakeholders are expected to continue making reasonable efforts to comply. The filing obligation itself has not changed.
What has changed is the interim enforcement approach. During the extended period, certain enforcement measures will remain relaxed to give carriers, forwarders, and NVOCCs additional time to align processes with the requirements.
Interim enforcement approach
Under the interim enforcement approach set out by NAIC:
- NAIC will issue only Acceptance (ACT) responses and will temporarily suspend Requests for Information (RFI) and Do Not Load (DNL) responses
- No penalties, violations, or enforcement actions will be applied in relation to late filings during this period
- The same approach will apply where vessel routes are amended, or where a shipment or vessel is subsequently identified as destined for, transiting through, or transshipping via the UAE
- Data quality and accuracy issues will be addressed directly with the relevant entities through engagement and corrective actions, rather than through the issuance of violations
What carriers, forwarders, and NVOCCs should do now
Start filing now. The extension changes the enforcement approach, not the requirement. Every shipment to or transiting through the UAE still needs an MPCI filing under the published rules, and the only way to be ready for September 30 is to be filing live before then.
Organizations that wait will face the same readiness gap in three months, with less time and more pressure. Those filing now will have already worked through the operational questions: who owns the filing, what data is needed, where the gaps sit, how status is tracked.
Practical actions during the extended grace period:
- Confirm internal responsibility for MPCI filing
- Align with origin partners and shippers on required shipment data
- Review documentation and data availability processes
- Begin live submissions and confirm filing status visibility
- Use the extended period to resolve data quality issues with Trade Tech through engagement, rather than carry them into enforcement
How Trade Tech supports MPCI compliance
Trade Tech is an official UAE MPCI service provider. Our MPCI solution is live and in production, with a global support team in place across our offices worldwide. Wherever your origin operations sit, our people are on hand to answer questions, work through filing scenarios, and ensure submissions go through cleanly.
With more than 24 years of experience supporting cargo security filing requirements across 37 countries, including AMS, ISF, ICS2 ENS, S&S GB, Canada eManifest, AFR, and others, Trade Tech helps carriers, NVOCCs, and freight forwarders build filing processes and operational workflows that hold up as regulatory requirements evolve.
The market should also be aware that ocean carriers are beginning to enforce MPCI compliance. Several are already requiring filing confirmation before accepting bookings or accepting cargo for loading, regardless of the NAIC grace period. For forwarders and NVOCCs, this means commercial pressure to file correctly is already in place. Filings that are late, incomplete, or unconfirmed can hold up bookings even while NAIC’s enforcement measures remain relaxed.
Get in touch
If you would like to review your MPCI readiness or discuss implementation options, Trade Tech is available to help.
Email: ttsales@tradetech.net
Phone: +971 56 219 8838
Request a demo: cargofiling.com/request-a-demo
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