Systems and methods for international shipping and brokerage operations support processing

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for a brokerage operations support system to facilitate international shipping of goods into a country. The system receives information pertaining to a shipment and rates the shipment for a specific country by applying rules defined for the country's customs regulations. Status information of the shipment is received by the system, including whether the shipment has cleared the importing country's customs process. If the shipment has not cleared, the handling systems ensure the shipment is withheld from delivery until clearance is obtained. A flexible system architecture comprising a server and both attended and unattended workstations for a core system that can be modified to allow rating and processing of shipments occur in various modes to accommodate the procedures for each importing country.

1 . A system for supporting brokerage operations comprising:
 a processor configured to receive and process shipment data to generate an electronic declaration document,   the processor configured to store the electronic declaration document in a database operatively connected to the processor,   the processor configured to transmit the electronic declaration document;   a communications network operatively connected to the processor receiving the electronic declaration document transmitted from the processor; and   a customs processing computer operatively connected to the communications network capable of receiving the electronic declaration document; and   the customs processing computer generating a customs clearance indication and communicating the customs clearance indication to the processor.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the processor comprises a workstation operatively connected to the database capable of accessing the shipment data stored in the database, the workstation capable of transmitting the electronic declaration document to the database for storage. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the workstation comprises a data service interface for communicating with the database,
 the data service interface enabling the workstation to access the database, to transmit the electronic declaration document to the database, and 
 the data service interface further enabling the workstation to update the database with the received customs clearance indication. 
 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the electronic declaration document includes at least one of a plurality of memory fields associated with an item quantity, an item description, an item value, and an item tariff code. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the workstation further comprises a user interface comprising a set of screens for user selections, said screens capable of being translated and displaying data in a selected language. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2  wherein each workstation is configured to be capable of selecting a rating profile containing an identifier matching a descriptor of a good contained in the shipment data and calculating a tariff amount associated with the good using a tariff rate associated with the tariff code in the selected rating profile. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the workstation is capable of transmitting the electronic declaration document to a customs clearance processing system, the workstation capable of receiving the clearance indication from the customs clearance processing system. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the processor communicates the customs clearance indication to a package handling system. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the processor communicates the customs clearance indication and the tariff amount to a computer generating a bill to a shipper. 
     
     
         10 . A system for facilitating a shipment of a package comprising:
 a database for storing shipment data associated with a shipment associated with at least one package;   a first processor capable of accessing the database to process the shipment data and configured to receive a customs clearance indication associated with the package,   the first processor further configured to communicate the customs clearance indication over a first communication network; and   a package handling system connected to the first communication network,   the package handling system capable of receiving the customs clearance indication associated with the package.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the package handling system comprises a second database,
 the second database storing the clearance indication, 
 the package handling system further accessing the second database upon scanning of a package. 
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the scanning of the package occurs by detecting a radio frequency identifier tag affixed to the package. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the scanning of the package occurs by detecting an optical bar code affixed to the package. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the package handling system provides a clearance indication after scanning the package. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the package handling system further comprises a second processor configured to determine the customs clearance indication associated with a package after the package handling system has scanned the package. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  wherein the second processor communicates a scanning indication to the first processor after the scanning of the package. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the first processor receives the customs clearance indication associated with the package from a customs processing system. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the first processor is further configured to generate an electronic declaration document by processing the shipment data and generate a clearance request. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein the first processor is further configured to receive the customs clearance indication associated with the electronic declaration document in response to the clearance request. 
     
     
         20 . A package handling system comprising:
 a sensor detecting a package associated with a shipment, the sensor generating a package identification message;   a database storing a customs clearance status indication associated with the package;   a first processor configured to receive the package identification message from the sensor, the first processor capable of retrieving the customs clearance status indication from the database and determining that the package is cleared for delivery; and   a second processor operatively connected to the first processor, receiving the customs clearance status and communicating it to the first processor.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the sensor detects a package by optical scanning a label on the package. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the processor is further configured to provide an indication that the package is cleared for delivery after detecting the package. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the indication is one from the group of an audible indication, generating a light, and displaying a message in human-readable form. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the second processor is operatively connected to a customs clearing processor, the customs clearing processor generating the customs clearance indication and transmitting it to the second processor. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the second processor is further configured to update the first processor upon receiving the customs clearance indication. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the first processor searches the database for the customs clearance indication using a shipment identifier associated with a package identifier value contained in the package identification message. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 22  wherein the processor controls a package sorting system based on the indication that the package is cleared for delivery. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the processor is further configured to determine either to hold or release delivery of the detected package based on the retrieved customs clearance indication associated with the detected package. 
     
     
         29 . A computer-implemented method for processing customs clearance comprising:
 receiving shipment data in a data processing system pertaining to at least one item imported into a country, the shipment data including a description, a quantity, and a value;   rating the shipment data to determine a tariff amount by accessing a database containing rating profiles associated with the at least one item imported into the country;   retrieving a first set of rules from the database for formulating a customs declaration document;   generating the customs declaration document based in part on the first set of rules, the tariff amount, and the shipment data;   communicating the customs declaration document to a customs broker; and   receiving a customs clearance indication from the customs broker clearing the item for importation.   
     
     
         30 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 29  wherein the first set of rules includes data communication parameters for communicating the customs declaration document to a customs broker in electronic form using an electronic data interchange (EDI) based interface. 
     
     
         31 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 29  wherein the customs declaration document is a paper based document. 
     
     
         32 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 29  further comprising communicating the customs clearance indication to a shipment handling system. 
     
     
         33 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 29  further comprising communicating the customs clearance indication to a billing computer system. 
     
     
         34 . A computer-implemented method of processing customs clearance status data, comprising:
 receiving shipment data associated with a shipment identifier, the shipment data received in a data processing system;   the shipment data including a description of an imported good, a value of the imported good, and a tariff code of the imported good;   determining parameters for interacting with a customs clearance data processing system;   generating an electronic customs declaration document;   communicating the electronic customs declaration document from the data processing system to the customs clearance data processing system;   receiving a clearance indication in the data processing system from the customs clearance data processing system indicating a shipment associated with the shipment identifier has cleared customs; and   communicating the clearance indication and the shipment identifier to a database server.   
     
     
         35 . A computer-implemented method for processing a shipment comprising:
 receiving at a first processor a customs clearance indication associated with a shipment;   transmitting the customs clearance indication from the first processor to a second processor using a communications network;   storing the customs clearance indication in a memory accessible to the second processor;   receiving a message at the second processor from a package handling system identifying a package associated with the shipment;   retrieving the customs clearance indication from the memory;   determining the customs clearance indication is associated with the package;   generating a message to the package handling system indicating the package has cleared customs; and   processing the package at the package handling system for delivery of the package.   
     
     
         36 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 35  wherein the package handling system comprises an optical scanner. 
     
     
         37 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 35  further comprising the steps of:
 receiving at the first processor shipment data comprising at least one identifier of the good of the shipment; 
 selecting a rating profile to determine a tariff code associated with the good; 
 rating the shipment to determine a tariff amount; 
 generating an electronic declaration document; and 
 communicating the electronic declaration document to a customs processing system.