The Secure Chain is an initiative of government and industry, which includes a new and more secure container release process. You can compare it to a relay race, where the container release right is always passed on from carrier, to forwarder, to ultimately the inland operator.
The advantage is that only well-known and authorized companies can participate in the logistics process of an import container, and the fraudulent PIN code disappears.
More information can be found on the campaign website www.secure-chain.eu
Basically: as an inland operator you are nominated by your client, which gives you the exclusive right to pre-notify and collect the container. Following your client’s nomination, a status request will automatically be prepared for you in Hinterland Container Notification (MCA), which you can upgrade to a pre-notification as you are used to.
On this page you will find an explanation of the Secure Chain method, adjustments to the process, and extensions to the MCA API system connection (if applicable to you).
In addition to receiving a transport order, as you are used to, you will have to be nominated by your client via Portbase, which gives you the exclusive right to pre-notify the container in Hinterland Container Notification (HCN) and collect it.
Following your client’s nomination, a status request (free of charge) will automatically be prepared for you in HCN, which you can upgrade to a pre-notification. You can find the status request in your HCN overview.
Containers for which you have been nominated can also be found in the Shipment screen. Can’t find a container/shipment in this overview? Then you have not (yet) been nominated!
Shipments can be displayed in two ways.
1. The Arrivals tab; shipments are shown by vessel.
Journey of the container(s), port of loading, carrier, vessel name, port of discharge, terminal, ETA.
2. The Shipments tab; shipments are shown per client.
B/L and goods information
Click on a shipment to view detailed information. Each step in the Secure Chain can be traced back. As soon as you have been nominated, your client can also check the status of the container.
If you have been nominated by your client, this does not automatically mean that the container is released exempt! The release can follow at a later time than the nomination.
As soon as the container is released in the Secure Chain by the carrier, the COMMERCIAL RELEASE will change from red to green in HCN.
The Acceptance reference field is a mandatory field in the status request and pre-notification. If no release is not yet available, always enter something (e.g. a dummy value such as PCSRELEASE).
Note! For ECT and Euromax, it is recommended that you only upgrade the status request to a pre-notification once the Secure Chain release has been issued by the carrier. At that point, the COMMERCIAL RELEASE on the status request will change from red to green. This is also the indicator that the container can be pre-notified.
Have you already submitted a pre-notification before the commercial release is issued?
1. Cancel the pre-notification.
2. Reuse the canceled pre-notification and resubmit the pre-notification.
The link with the Secure Chain release will then be made.
Have you already started a status request or pre-notification because you received the transport order from your client before the nomination in HCN? HCN will then attempt to match your status request to the nomination and make your created status application or pre-notification leading. Note: the status request made by the Secure Chain nomination remains visible in HCN as a canceled status request.
Matching doesn’t always work!
The matching mechanism fails in certain circumstances. E.g. due to, but not limited to, a combination of circumstances, such as frequently returning containers, and containers/pre-notifications that have already left the terminal during a previous transport, but are not (correctly) completed with a gate-out message.
1. Do you receive the message; you are not authorized to make a pre-notification?
2. Check whether the container can be found in the Shipment screen.
3. If so, contact Portbase Customer Service..
4. If not, you are not nominated. Contact your client, to get nominated instead.
Would you like to nominate another inland operator for both transport and pre-notification, and continue to monitor the container status information?
You can always withdraw the nomination, and take back the exclusive right to make the pre-notification yourself or to nominate another inland operator.
Attention road hauliers: are you responsible for the pre-notification, but do you only outsource the transport? Don’t hand over the nomination, but instead enter the EAN number of your charter/temporary worker as Executing Charter in the pre-notification in HCN.
Previously you read how you can process “Secure Chain containers” using the HCN web screen.
These actions can also be automated. To do this, you need to implement the extended API version 2.
The Tracking API has been expanded, allowing you to reuse your nominated Shipments and retrieve additional information. Experience shows that software suppliers more often create a queue of nominated shipments. The regular transport order is the starting point to actually pre-notify and carry out the transport. This facilitates the reuse of information.
A new API endpoint has been added: Forward API. Which can be used to transfer the nomination to another carrier/subcontractor who carries out the pre-notification AND the transport.
You can continue to monitor the status of the container(s) via the tracking API/Shipments.
Specifications and all information about the new API version 2 can be found on our Developer Portal.
In the use cases the process is explained in detail – Secure Chain: Portbase Hinterland API.
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