DCSA, in conjunction with our member carriers, has published data and process standards for the submission of shipping instructions and issuance of the bill of lading (B/L). Through this initiative, DCSA aims to facilitate acceptance and adoption of an electronic bill of lading (eBL) by regulators, banks and insurers and to unify communication between these organisations and customers, carriers and all other stakeholders involved in a transaction.

DCSA B/L standards are aligned with the UN/CEFACT (United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) multimodal transport reference data model to ensure a global industry framework that accelerates digitalisation through a unified industry effort.

This is part of the multi-year DCSA eDocumentation initiative which will deliver standards to enable digitalisation of end-to-end container shipping documentation.

Subsequent releases of the DCSA eDocumentation initiative will include data and process standards for: booking request and confirmation, arrival notice and release shipment.

The FIT Alliance
Uniting behind the mission to standardise the digitalisation of international trade, DCSA BIMCO, FIATA ICC and SWIFT have formed the FIT Alliance. The FIT Alliance will work to generate awareness about the importance of common and interoperable data standards and common legislative conditions across international jurisdictions and platforms. The aim is to facilitate acceptance and adoption of an eBL by regulators, banks and insurers and to unify communication between these organisations and customers, physical and contractual carriers, and all other stakeholders involved in an international trade transaction.

Bill of Lading OpenAPI Specifications

In addition to the standards documents, DCSA has also published API definitions for the Bill of Lading on Swaggerhub, an open-source API development platform. Carriers can use these definitions to rapidly implement DCSA standard-compliant APIs.
Documentation on the Bill of Lading standard, including versioning guidance, can be found on GitHub. 

Bill of Lading Publication 

The DCSA Standard for the Bill of Lading publication includes updates to the DCSA Industry Blueprint and Information Model.
Download the standard and updated documents below to get started immediately on streamlining and aligning your paper-based B/L data and processes.