The SA airfreight industry is sitting on the brink of a major move into e-freight, and its big money-saving track into a paperless air cargo environment. This follows 15 months of global development and trials involving 15 carriers and eight forwarders, which led, early last year, to the Iata/Fiata consultative council (IFCC) endorsing the multilateral electronic air waybill (e-AWB) agreement – and formally adopting the agreement as Resolution 672. In what is described as “the biggest achievement in standard-setting in air freight in 20 years”, the agreement has paved the way for the global shift to e-freight, according to Frederic Leger, Iata’s head of cargo business process and standards. He also noted that Iata hoped it would act as the springboard for its ultimate target of 100% conversion to e-AWB by 2015. On the local scene, all the major carriers on the SA routes and most of the major freight agents have already signed into the multilateral e-freight agreement, the key to the takeoff of the new electronic data interchange (EDI) system, according to Alwyn Rautenbach, executive manager of Airlink Cargo and chairman of the Air Cargo Operators’ Committee (Acoc). “Also, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs systems are ready for e-freight handling, so everything is ready to pick up speed,” he told FTW. “Once the physical implementation starts, e-freight in SA will grow exponentially.” Rautenbach’s company, Airlink Cargo, like most of the other airfreight operators in SA, has signed up to the e-AWB agreement, and is currently gearing up its in-house system to become e-freight compliant. “Everything in SA is ready for that big step into the future of airfreight,” said Rautenbach. INSERT & CAPTION Once the physical implementation starts, e-freight in SA will grow exponentially from now on. – Alwyn Rautenbach
