IFTMBC — Booking Confirmation Message (D.96A)

IFTMBC is the transport booking confirmation message. The forwarder or carrier informs the booking party of the status of the request: accepted, pending, conditionally accepted, or rejected.

Purpose

Per the UN/CEFACT functional definition, IFTMBC is "a message from the party providing forwarding and/or transport services to the party booking those services giving the confirmation information to the booking of the consignment concerned. A confirmation might read that the booking of a consignment is accepted, pending, conditionally accepted or rejected." It is single-consignment based: it describes a single shipment regardless of transport mode, and is usable by all parties in the chain (shipper, consignor, forwarder, broker, carrier).

Segment structure

IFTMBC D.96A is a flat message with a rich header and 17 segment groups. All items are defined in iftmbc_s.htm (segment table) and iftmbc_d.htm (clarification).

Header

Mandatory header segments are UNH M and BGM M . Other header segments are conditional but often populated in practice: CTA C , COM C , DTM C , TSR C , FTX C , and CNT C .

Segment groups

The 17 groups successively describe locations, references, transport, parties, services and goods. Canonical order:

• SG1 (C, ×99) — LOC + DTM: locations/dates (departure, arrival, stops).
• SG2 (C, ×99) — RFF + DTM + TCC: references and transport charge calculations.
• SG3 (C, ×99) — TDT + DTM + TSR + SG4 LOC/DTM + SG5 RFF/DTM: transport means, stages, related references.
• SG6 (C, ×99) — NAD + LOC + SG7 TSR/RFF/LOC/TPL/FTX: parties (carrier, consignor, notify party) with their locations and services.
• SG8 (C, ×999) — GID + HAN + TMP + RNG + TMD + LOC + FTX: goods-item details (handling, temperature, range, transport mode, locations). Contains the sub-groups:
  • SG9 (C, ×9) — NAD + DTM + GDS goods-item-specific parties.
  • SG10 (C, ×99) — MEA + EQN measurements.
  • SG11 (C, ×99) — DIM + EQN dimensions.
  • SG12 (C, ×9) — RFF + DTM references.
  • SG13 (C, ×9) — DOC + DTM documents.
  • SG14 (C, ×9) — DGS + FTX + SG15 MEA/EQN dangerous goods (IMDG, ADR).
• SG16 (C, ×999) — EQD + EQN + TMD + MEA + DIM + HAN + TMP + FTX + SG17 NAD/DTM: equipment (containers, trailers).

The message closes with UNT M .

Mandatory / conditional

Strictly mandatory in every IFTMBC D.96A:

• UNH — opens the message, identifies type and version.
• BGM — confirmation number and function (qualifier 251 = booking confirmation).
• UNT — closes the message.

At the standard level, no segment group is marked M: all the richness (locations, transport, parties, goods) is conditional. Operational usage and sector subsets (SMDG for container shipping, CEFIC for dangerous goods) make at minimum SG1 (origin/destination LOC), SG3 (transport means), and SG6 (parties) mandatory in practice.

Real-world example

A container booking confirmation by an ocean carrier (OCEAN LINE FR) to the shipper (ACME EXPORT SAS) from Le Havre to Hamburg:

UNB+UNOC:3+CARRIERFR:14+SHIPPERFR:14+260513:1430+CTRL000042'
UNH+1+IFTMBC:D:96A:UN'
BGM+251+BKG-2026-0815+9'
DTM+137:202605131430:203'
DTM+200:20260520:102'
TSR+27++2'
FTX+AAI+++BOOKING CONFIRMED FOR REQUESTED DATE'
LOC+9+FRLEH:139:6'
DTM+232:20260520:102'
LOC+11+DEHAM:139:6'
DTM+133:20260523:102'
TDT+20+VESSEL789+1+++OOCL::172+++MV ASIAN STAR'
NAD+CA+CARRIERFR::9++OCEAN LINE FR'
NAD+CZ+SHIPPERFR::9++ACME EXPORT SAS'
GID+1+10:CT:67'
HAN+G:6'
MEA+WT+G+KGM:22000'
EQD+CN+ABCD1234567+22G1:102:5+++5'
EQN+1'
UNT+18+1'
UNZ+1+CTRL000042'

• BGM+251+BKG-2026-0815+9 — code 251 (booking confirmation), number BKG-2026-0815, status 9 (Original).
• TSR+27++2 — Transport Service Requirements: priority 27 (full container load), mode 2 (sea transport).
• LOC+9+FRLEH — Place of departure, UN/LOCODE Le Havre. LOC+11+DEHAM — Place of destination, UN/LOCODE Hamburg.
• TDT+20 — Main-carriage transport, voyage VESSEL789, operator OOCL.
• NAD+CA — Carrier. NAD+CZ — Consignor (shipper).
• GID+1+10:CT:67 — Goods item ref 1, 10 cartons (CT, kind 67).
• EQD+CN+ABCD1234567+22G1:102:5 — Container 22G1 (20'GP), serial ABCD1234567.
• UNT+18+1 — 18 segments in the message (UNH and UNT included).

Common errors

• Wrong BGM qualifier — 251 = booking confirmation (correct for IFTMBC). Confusing it with 250 (booking request, IFTMBP/IFTMBF) or 252 (booking cancellation) is a frequent mapping mistake.
• Invalid UN/LOCODE — LOC+9 and LOC+11 expect a 5-letter code (FRLEH, DEHAM) with qualifier 139 and agency 6 (UN/LOCODE). A free-text port name is rejected.
• EQD without ISO type — component 8155 must contain an ISO 6346 code (22G1, 45G1, 22R1), not a free-text label.
• Missing DGS for dangerous goods — any IMDG/ADR-classified goods must trigger an SG14 with DGS (class, UN number, packing group), or the carrier may refuse loading.
• DTM+200 vs DTM+232 confusion — 200 = pickup/loading date, 232 = arrival at place of departure. They are not interchangeable.

Related messages

In a transport booking cycle, IFTMBC responds to:

• IFTMBP — Provisional booking message.
• IFTMBF — Firm booking message.
• IFTMBC — the confirmation (this message).
• IFTMIN — Transport instructions (post-confirmation).
• IFTSTA — Multimodal status report (in-transit tracking).
• IFTMAN — Arrival notice.
• CONTRL D.96A — automatic syntactic acknowledgment.

JSON equivalent

JSON projection of the example for integration in TMS or visibility portals. Non-normative mapping, ediverse convention:

{
  "interchange": {
    "controlRef": "CTRL000042",
    "from": { "id": "CARRIERFR", "qualifier": "14" },
    "to": { "id": "SHIPPERFR", "qualifier": "14" },
    "datetime": "2026-05-13T14:30:00Z",
    "syntax": { "id": "UNOC", "version": "3" }
  },
  "message": {
    "ref": "1",
    "type": "IFTMBC",
    "version": { "syntax": "D", "release": "96A", "agency": "UN" }
  },
  "bookingConfirmation": {
    "number": "BKG-2026-0815",
    "function": "251",
    "status": "9",
    "issuedAt": "2026-05-13T14:30:00Z",
    "service": { "priority": "27", "transportMode": "2" },
    "locations": [
      { "qualifier": "9", "code": "FRLEH", "departureDate": "2026-05-20" },
      { "qualifier": "11", "code": "DEHAM", "arrivalDate": "2026-05-23" }
    ],
    "transport": {
      "mode": "20",
      "carrier": "OOCL",
      "vessel": { "name": "MV ASIAN STAR", "voyage": "VESSEL789" }
    },
    "parties": {
      "carrier": { "id": "CARRIERFR", "name": "OCEAN LINE FR" },
      "consignor": { "id": "SHIPPERFR", "name": "ACME EXPORT SAS" }
    },
    "goods": [
      {
        "ref": 1,
        "packages": { "count": 10, "type": "CT", "kind": "67" },
        "handling": "G",
        "weight": { "unit": "KGM", "value": 22000 },
        "container": { "type": "22G1", "number": "ABCD1234567", "count": 1 }
      }
    ]
  }
}