Wireless System Aims to Fast-Track Heineken From Holland

Data stored on the TREC processor, such as whether a container door has been opened, will be sent to the Secure Trade Lane Container Information Services (CIS) database, which will process the information. The data will then be stored on Heineken's EPCIS database, used to maintain records of the containers' transit. Heineken will be able to utilize that data to send an electronic bill of lading to Dutch customs officials.

When a container passes through customs, that agency will create its own EPCIS data record before Safmarine loads the container onto a vessel. The shipping carrier will then create an electronic bill of lading that can be sent directly to U.K. customs, to be saved in the agency's database. The wireless devices send data about the shipment to cellular networks, but if none are available, they transmit the data via satellite.

As the containers enter the United Kingdom and pass through British customs, an EPCIS data record of each container's arrival and departure will again be created, along with information required for completion of the customs process. From there, they will continue on to the United States, where U.S. customs will be able to access information about the shipment before it ever arrives, by logging onto the EPCIS sites using the Discovery Service. They will also be able to access other data, Reidy says, such as where the containers were stowed in the vessel, or whether doors have been tampered with.

RFID readers can be connected to the TREC unit in the same way that sensors can be connected, thereby allowing shippers to track RFID-tagged cases, pallets or items inside the container. However, such interrogators will not be used with this pilot. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will coordinate the project, providing best-practices documentation to share across the European Union (EU).

Reidy says the EU hopes the pilot will illustrate how paperless trade might be used to eliminate most inspections upon arrival, speed ocean freight shipments by making the customs process more efficient and increase security. The organization also hopes to reduce the tax fraud that occurs in Europe when individuals looking to avoid paying European taxes unload products theoretically bound for America.