International Maritime Control Organisation classification for hazardous cargo.

International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code, see Dangerous Goods.

Import Cargo Manifest can be defined as a declaration by the carrier to the Customs about all Containers and their content loaded on a particular vessel. It is also referred to as the Import General Manifest or IGM.

Tax on imported goods and services from abroad.

A document required to import certain goods and services.

An importer of record is the entity or individual who is responsible for all entry documents required by CBP (Customs Border Protection) and for the product classification and payment of duties, as well as any other import obligations. Additional documentation is required if you are importing into the U.S. as a foreign importer of record.

Goods and services which one country's residents purchase and transport from another country into their own country.

Import Shipment.

The Incoterms® rules are a globally-recognised set of standards, used worldwide in international and domestic contracts for the delivery of goods, brought together by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). They help traders avoid costly misunderstandings by clarifying the tasks, costs and risks involved in the delivery of goods from sellers to buyers. The Incoterms® rules are recognised by UNCITRAL as the global standard for the interpretation of the most common terms in foreign trade. Incoterms® 2020 have come into effect on 1 January 2020. All contracts made under Incoterms® 2000 and any other previous editions remain valid and parties to a contract for the sale of goods can agree to choose any version of the Incoterms® rules. However, it is recommended using the most current version of the rules, Incoterms® 2020. It is important to clearly specify the chosen version.

A separate action taken by an individual member of a conference agreement to change rates or terms of carriage as laid out in the conference agreements.

Carrier that is not a member of a shipping conference.

A quantitative measure of the rate at which the average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy increases over a period. Often expressed as a percentage, inflation indicates a decrease in the purchasing power of a nation's currency.

Inherent vice is an exclusion found in most cargo insurance policies to account for a defect or inherent characteristic in the nature of the product. As opposed to an external occurrence, such as a forklift puncturing a packaged item, inherent vice cannot be insured against damage or loss since the defect or characteristic is not visible to the carrier or insurer. To determine if your good has a form of inherent vice, consider the following examples: Short-Lived. Sealed plastic bottles can incur damage because of the pressure changes from climbing and descending through altitude, either when shipping by air or over land. This is due to an inherent quality of the bottle and explains why our water bottles tend to twist or bend out of normal shape when we are flying. Structural Nature. The structural nature of an item with flawed design usually refers to its material. For example, the acidic chemicals in leather cause the item to tarnish or corrode when in contact with metal. This is unavoidable due to the inherent quality and nature of the product’s material. History or Function. Iron and metals are known to rust or corrode when exposed to humidity. In the case of any machinery made of iron or metal, for example, a claim for rust would be denied if shipper doesn’t protect the equipment. In the case of inherent vice, it is necessary for the shipper to know their product and ensure that it is packaged properly for the mode of transport or conditions that it may be exposed to along its journey. A claim may be denied either due to inherent vice or insufficient packaging, which are both coverage exclusions included in most cargo insurance policies.

Transportation company which hauls imports or exports between ports and inland points.

An inside delivery fee is assessed by the trucker if they were required to go inside to pick up or deliver the cargo. If a shipment’s delivery requires some form of installation, or if the trucker is required to go inside the location (past the front door or loading dock) in order to pick up or deliver the cargo, the trucker may charge an inside delivery fee.

A document issued by an inspection authority, indicating that goods have been inspected according to certain regulatory, customer or industry standards.

Document which assures the consignee that insurance is provided to cover loss or damage to the cargo while in transit. A certificate issued by an insurer to a shipper (or other party) as evidence that a shipment of merchandise is covered under a marine policy.

Carriers that have both air and ground fleets or other combinations, such as sea, rail and truck. They usually handle thousands of small parcels an hour.

The Intensive exam is the most thorough Customs exam. If Customs and Border Protection (CBP) selects your container for an Intensive exam, the container will be trucked to a Centralized Examination Station (CES), where the CES will unload the container. A CES is a privately operated facility designated by CBP for physical examination where imported or exported cargo is made available for inspection. A Customs officer will examine the cargo, and then the CES will reload the cargo into the container after the exam. Costs associated with trucking and storing the container will be the responsibility of the importer.

A company arranges direct delivery of the goods to the customer from the stocks of another company belonging to the same corporate group.

A non-governmental membership-based organization representing freight forwarders and logistics providers in some 150 countries

This is strictly a numeric barcode. Each encoded character is made up of five elements, two are wide and three are narrow. The number of characters to be printed must be an even number. If the number of characters to be printed is odd, a zero will be appended to the beginning of the code.

Coordinated transport of freight, especially in connection with relatively long-haul movements, using any combination of freight forwarders, piggy-back, containerisation, air freight, assemblers, rail and road.

Consolidates container loads or piggyback trailers from several shippers and contracts with railroads for volume space.

The coordination of freight transport using a combination of transport modes e.g. barge and truck.

Trade association serving airlines, passengers and shippers, defines key rules for transport of cargo, maintains a global list of airport codes.

Trade association representing freight forwarders worldwide to promote industry interests, uniform documentation and terms for forwarding activities.

Freight torwarders that handle booking, paperwork and consolidation of exports.

International Maritime Control Organisation. See IMO.

International Roadcheck is an annual three-day event in which CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Association) inspectors examine as many trucks as possible. They’re looking for anything that doesn’t meet their safety standards for motor carriers, vehicles, or drivers. International Roadcheck is the world’s largest targeted enforcement program for commercial motor vehicles. During the three-day period, nearly 17 trucks or buses are inspected, on average, every minute in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The truck is inspected thoroughly, as are all documents and licenses, as part of the 37-step inspection procedure. Since the program began in 1998, more than 1.5 million roadside inspections have been conducted. In 2016, the CVSA conducted 62,796 inspections. Of these, 21.5 percent of vehicles and 3.4 percent of drivers were taken out of service due to critical violations -- ranging from brake adjustment and brake system violations (for vehicles) to issues with hours of service and false logs (for drivers).

An amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea Convestion on minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and government agencies. It prescribes responsibilities to governments, shipping companies, shipboard personelle and port/facility personal to detect security threats and take preventative meausres against security incidents affecting ships or port facilities used in international trade.

The value or listing of raw materials, work in progress and finished goods on-hand at any point of time within the supply chain.

Generally, carrying costs or holding costs are financial measurements that calculate all the costs associated with holding goods in storage. It includes inventory-in-storage, warehousing, obsolescence, deterioration, spoilage and labour costs, as well as insurance and taxes.

Inventory Linked - Several UK ports and airports are linked to the customs computer systems. Being inventory-linked enables these ports/airports to handle the presentation,arrival and departure of goods on HMRC’s behalf.

The cost of goods sold, divided by the average level of inventory on hand. The ratio measures how many times a company's inventory has been sold during the year.

The speed with which products move from receiving dock to shipping dock.

See Commercial Invoice.

Inland Point Intermodal. Cargo moving via land from/to an inland point. See also Micro Bridge.

An Importer Security Filing (ISF), also known as “10+2,” is a filing required by the CBP that documents importing information and details, as shipments pass from point to point. Importers who do not file the ISF properly prior to the shipment of their goods will be penalized (US$5,000 fine). The ISF must be transmitted at least 24 hours prior to an ocean's shipment's departure to the United States.

An Importer Security Filing (ISF) documents 12 details about a shipment being imported to the United States via ocean. It is required by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) is a security measure put into place in response to the 9/11 attacks by the IMO (International Maritime Organization) as part of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention. ISPS assigns responsibilities to governments, shipping companies, shipping personnel, and port/facility personnel to detect security threats and take preventative measures against those threats affecting ships or ports used in international trade.

1. Immediate Transportation Entry: refers to an IT entry (U.S. Customs). Allows the cargo to move beyond the vessel entry point in bond for customs clearance at the destination named in the I.T. movement from one customs district to another, e.g. cargo entering the U.S. at Los Angeles destined for Chicago can move to Chicago before having a customs inspection. 2. Information Technology: A generic term for people or systems working toward business improvement.

International Transport Implementation Guidelines Group.ITIGG is an international group of experts engaged in the development and implementation of UN/EDIFACT-standard messages for electronic trading in the transport industry. ITIGG is a subgroup of D4, the UN/EDIFACT Message Development Group for Transport. ITIGG develops recommendations which provide software developers with a series of simple, straightforward tools to assist in designing applications which can be used for trading electronically throughout the world, and to clarify the intentions of the designers of key UN/EDIFACT messages.