What is Cargo Declaration?

Cargo Declaration means information submitted prior to, upon arrival or upon departure of an international shipment required by a country's customs authority, providing the particulars relating to the cargo brought to or removed from the Customs territory.

If the carrier did not present cargo declaration information to Customs prior to the lading of the cargo aboard the vessel at the foreign port, Customs could delay issuance of a permit to unlade the entire vessel or a portion until all required information was received.

The difference between a cargo manifest and a cargo declaration must be appreciated. The cargo declaration is one of several documents which, when taken together, constitute a vessel manifest. In this rule-making, by requiring the submission of cargo declaration information 24 hours prior to lading, Customs is eliminating the requirement for vessel carriers to submit an additional cargo declaration upon arrival in the United States. However, the remaining documents comprising the vessel manifest must be available for presentation upon entry of the vessel.