# Ocean Freight Electronic Document Interchange (EDI)

*Last updated: 2026-06-26*

> A carrier receives a booking request, the forwarder transmits cargo details, customs demands advance filing – all of this flows through EDI, Electronic Data Interchange.

A carrier receives a booking request, the forwarder transmits cargo details, customs demands advance filing – all of this flows through EDI, Electronic Data Interchange. EDI is the computer-to-computer exchange of standardized business documents (bills of lading, packing lists, customs declarations, arrival notices) between trading partners using defined message formats such as EDIFACT or XML. In ocean freight, EDI connects forwarders, shipping lines, terminals, customs authorities, and shippers in a continuous data pipeline, eliminating paper and email-based hand-offs. The result is reduced manual entry, lower error rates, and end-to-end automation from booking to port release. EDI is not the same as emailing a PDF invoice: it requires structured data transmission according to agreed message types, such as EDIFACT IFTMBF for booking requests or CUSCAR for customs declarations.

**Source:** [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_data_interchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_data_interchange)

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Term | Ocean Freight Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) |
| Language | EN |
| Word count | 127 |
| Last updated | 2026-06-26 |
| Source | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_data_interchange |

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