UAE MPCI Becomes Mandatory on October 1

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Maritime Pre-Load Cargo Information (MPCI) filing becomes mandatory on October 1.

Starting October 1, every containerized shipment moving under a House Bill of Lading (HBL) with a direct discharge at a UAE port will require an MPCI filing. Ocean Carriers will also be required to file an MPCI filing on any containerized cargo to, through, or transshipping via the UAE.

MPCI filings on the HBL level are required to be submitted no less than 24 hours prior to the commencement of loading at the last foreign port. Shipments without a compliant filing are exposed to potential service disruption as well as fines once the grace period ends. It is important to understand this applies to all containerized ocean cargo regardless of origin or trade lane.

Important items to review and consider before October 1:

1.    Do you have your UAE MPCI Party ID from NAIC? Do your overseas partners and co-loaders have theirs?
2.   Are you allowing enough time for the filing to be submitted 24 hours prior to the commencement of loading for HBLs?
3.    What happens when a filing is rejected? Who fixes it, and how fast?
4.    Are your agents and partners aligned on cut-off times, data formats, and who files what and when?
5.    If a filing is late, who carries the liability, you or your UAE-based agent?

If you are struggling to answer any of these, we are here to help.

Trade Tech is a NAIC-accredited MPCI service provider with a proven filing platform used by carriers, forwarders, and NVOCCs worldwide. Origin, destination, and head-office teams work in the same place, collaborating in real-time, gaining full visibility of statuses, exceptions, and responsible parties to ensure compliance. Our specialists support your team to help resolve rejections and issues as they come up.

We file nearly a million cargo security filings a month across 37 Customs authorities. We can help get you an MPCI ID, connect to our system, and start filing.