Pre-stowage Manifest

Pre-stowage Manifest is a key document in international ocean freight export operations. It refers to manifest data that a freight forwarder or shipper transmits in advance to the shipping line or customs based on booking information before the cargo is actually loaded on board. Its main use scenarios are: before stowage planning, the shipping line needs to consolidate all cargo information to be loaded so as to arrange space and prepare the stowage plan; meanwhile, in countries implementing advance manifest declaration (such as China, the United States, and the European Union), the pre-stowage manifest is the basis for customs risk control and advance security screening. Precautions include: the data must be consistent with the subsequent actual loading manifest, otherwise it may result in amendment fees or failure to load; it must be sent before the cut-off time, and information such as shipper, consignee, commodity name, and weight must be accurate. The difference from the 'loading manifest' is that the pre-stowage manifest is forecast data before loading, while the loading manifest is confirmed data after the cargo is actually loaded; the difference from the 'bill of lading' is that the pre-stowage manifest is electronic data declared to customs/the shipping line, while the bill of lading is a document of title issued by the carrier.