A Port Community System handles electronic communication in ports between the shipping lines, shipping agents, port authorities, terminals, freight forwarders, road and rail transport, importers, exporters, dock security, port health, immigration, Customs, and other authorities.
In 2021, Acrux as part of an international consortium worked on the business process analysis and architectural designing of IMO FAL complaint Port Community System for the seaports of Pakistan. The scope of this Port Community System included:
- Pre-arrival processes including BL, etc.
- Manifest filing, control, and clearance
- Arrival of a container ship
- COPRAR information for pre-arrival processing
- Reporting of dangerous goods at arrival
- Reporting people on board the ship at arrival
- Security/threat reporting and related processes
- Crew lists
- Health reporting and related processes
- Compliance with customs procedures (reporting ships stores, crew effects, rummaging etc.)
- Waste collection and reporting
- Nautical services
- Port clearance of vessels
- E-payments covering B2G transactions with optional services for B2B payments
- Issuance/receipt of delivery orders for imported cargo
- Container/cargo release processing
- Risk management
The Port Community System will allow electronic exchange of information between transport operators in the port and for hinterland connections, the port users, Customs, port, and other authorities, in addition to electronic exchange of Customs declarations and Customs responses, and cargo releases between private parties and Customs. The system will also facilitate electronic handling of all information regarding import and export of containerized, general, and bulk cargo for the port community.