Pre-Receival Advice - Getting Your Consignment One Step Closer to Export

An important step in the entire trade supply chain is getting export consignments successfully accepted at the cargo terminals. Once that is done, an exporter can take a sigh of relief. Finally, his/her cargo intended for export to a foreign country is ready for loading. So, is there anything that may go wrong and spoil the joy? In case you overlook the importance of accurately and timey submitting a pre-receival advice (PRA), it can be a possibility.

Now, what is pre-receival advice? Where to submit it and how? What is its importance? What information does it include? You will find answers to each of these in the below sections.

What Is PRA?

In simple words, PRA refers to informing a cargo terminal operator that a consignment intended for export is ready for dispatch to the terminal. Needless to say, terminals are busy spots with chances of many export consignments arriving at the same time for loading. Without prior notifications, handling each of these consignments can lead to a chaos. Thus, it is necessary that the terminal operators and stevedores have the right information to prevent such a situation.

Let’s delve deeper into the meaning of a PRA to understand it better.

What IS ERA? The Export Receival Advice (ERA) was the traditional form used to submit the cargo information manually. Unfortunately, the process of filling and submitting paper forms was too time-consuming. Moreover, it was highly prone to human errors. Because of this, PRA replaced ERA in the year 2004 to bring in efficiency in the process.

PRA in Detail: A pre-receival advice is a form submitted electronically to a cargo terminal operator, sharing complete details about an export consignment. Once the operator finds the information in the form accurate, he/she responds back with cargo clearance message. After that, the exporter can send the consignment to the terminal.

However, the operator may reject the PRA due to one of many causes. In that case, the exporter must rectify the error and either request an amendment or submit a fresh PRA.

Who Should Submit? In general, an exporter or his or her agent prepares a PRA. However, there are cases when other parties involved in the supply chain may also need to do it. For example, freight forwarders, packers, transport operators etc. can also accomplish this task.

When to Submit? Different cargo terminal operators may prescribe submitting PRA different numbers of days before the expected time of arrival (ETA) of the vessel. Usually, most of them allow submitting the form 14 days before the vessel’s ETA. Still, you must check with your cargo terminal to submit it neither too early nor too late.

What Information Does It Include?

A PRA is not only a simple intimation, but it shares a detailed description of the consignment in question. Here is a list of the mandatory fields you must fill to avoid rejection:

• Shipping line name, as well as Lloyd’s number, name of the vessel, voyage number etc.
• Booking reference number that the shipping line generates at the time of cargo booking
• Exports custom number or Customs authority number that can be an export declaration number or a consolidated reference number
• Container number, along with the type of container, container ISO code, number of containers and seal number and verified gross weight
• Port of loading, port of discharge, final destination etc.
• Commodity type and description

What Is the Importance of PRA?

As mentioned earlier, an important purpose of a PRA is to inform the terminal operators about the export consignment arrival and obtain cargo clearance. In addition, there are many ways in which a PRA is of great use:

• First, it provides a concrete way to authenticate the information about a consignment. When an exporter books space on a vessel, the shipping line shares the information about the consignment with the terminal operator. When an exporter sends a PRA, the operator cross-verifies the information before letting the containers enter the wharf area. So, it can be a great security measure.
• Second, a PRA acts as an evidence for generating a bill of adding. The shipping line, only after confirming that the terminal has cleared the consignment, produces the bill, to confirm that it accepts the cargo for shipping.
• Third, a PRA works as a guide to store different types of commodities according to their specific needs. For instance, perishable goods like fruits and meat demands special storage conditions based on temperature control. An exporter needs to accurately mention the details like ‘frozen’, ‘chilled’, ‘reefer’ and humidity control and so on. Besides, the PRA must mention if the goods are hazardous in nature to ensure safe handling and storage.
• Also, a PRA weeds out the possibilities of delays in loading of the cargo. If you share correct information in the prescribed format, it becomes easy for the terminal operators to authenticate the information faster.

How to Submit a PRA?

By now, you know that you can submit a PRA electronically only. Due to this, you need to have an electronic channels, system or software to communicate with the terminal operators. Using one such tool can also help you in:

• Automated PRA generation
• Reduction in human errors
• Fast submission of PRA without any delay
• Real-time status tracking
• Securely storing and accessing information and so on

After submitting a PRA, you can expect the terminal operator to revert quickly. Your PRA may face rejection in cases like:

• Mismatch between the port of loading and vessel/voyage
• Not mentioning reefer details like the required temperature setting
• Submitting information about one container twice
• Error in mentioning Customs authority number
• Wrong or undefined commodity code

Be careful while filling in the details and you can easily avoid most of these mistakes.

Choose a software tool that allows sending bulk PRA messages for more than one container at the same time. Also, train your staff to generate accurate PRAs for hurdle-free exporting.