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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Foundations

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Standards

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Flagship messages

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Tools

X12 109 — Vessel Content Details

The 109 transmits the detailed content of a vessel — grouped bills of lading, containers, goods — from an ocean carrier to US Customs or a terminal operator.

Purpose

The 109 documents the detailed manifest of a maritime voyage: all loaded BLs, their containers, weight, commodities, shippers, and consignees. It supports US CBP 24-Hour Rule compliance: any vessel content must be filed 24 hours before loading at a foreign port bound for the US.

It pairs with the 309 (Customs Manifest) and the 352 (US Customs Carrier Cargo Information) in the AMS (Automated Manifest System) workflow. Acknowledged by 997.

Envelope structure

The 109 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group VC, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-109.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*OCEANCARRIER  *ZZ*USCBP         *260515*0900*U*00401*000000109*0*P*>~
GS*VC*OCEANCARRIER*USCBP*20260515*0900*1*X*004010~
ST*109*0001~
M10*ACME*L*VOY-2026-128*MV ATLANTIC*9123456~
P4*USNYC*20260601*D~
N9*BM*BL-2026-7788~
N1*SH*SHENZHEN EXPORTERS LTD~
N1*CN*US IMPORTER INC~
LX*1~
N9*BM*BL-2026-7788~
M13*MSCU*1234567*40HC*GROSS*22500*KG~
SE*11*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000109~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, M10 (Manifest Identifying Information).
  • Voyage / port — P4 (Port Information).
  • Bills of Lading — N9*BM (BL number).
  • Parties — N1*SH (Shipper), N1*CN (Consignee).
  • Containers — LX loop: N9*BM (BL reference), M13 (Container Information).
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • 24-Hour Rule: US CBP requires filing 24 hours before loading at the foreign port. A 109 sent after loading leads to inadmissibility.
  • Container seal vs container number: the seal number is not the container number; mixing both breaks reconciliation at arrival.
  • Commodity description: a generic "FAK" (Freight All Kinds) label is rejected by CBP — always carry the HTS code and a precise description.

Documentation

The code 109 and the name Vessel Content Details are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The complete structure of loops, qualifiers and code lists is distributed by DISA via the proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.