Companies collaborate with IRS to create electronic document for cargo transportation
Author: José Sergio Osse
Source: Valor Online, 07/04/2008
SÃO PAULO - The Federal Revenue Service, in partnership with more than ten companies in the transport sector and with the State Finance Departments, intends to develop the electronic form of the document of Knowledge of Transport (CT). The idea is to facilitate and cheapen the bureaucracy involved in the transportation of cargo, including by airlines.
The Bill of Lading is a standard document, issued by all cargo carriers before the start of the journey stating the content of what is being transported. The electronic form of the document, the CT-e, should be implemented later this year, replacing the current paper forms.
According to TAM, one of the companies involved in the project, the adoption of the CT-e will bring greater agility and efficiency to its operations, with the possibility of automation in some procedures performed today manually. Today, after the aircraft disembarks, all cargo undergoes a tax verification process and cannot be delivered before a series of bureaucratic procedures has been completed manually.
The airline says that, with the electronic version, the cargo processing time will be reduced at the tax posts, reducing the time between cargo posting and delivery.
In terms of costs, the company estimates that it can save around five tons of paper per year with the adoption of CT-e. Currently, TAM issues around 200 thousand documents of the type per month, for a total of 2,4 million per year.
The process is also important to leverage TAM's strategy to further develop its revenue from cargo. The performance in the sale of space for transport in the hold of aircraft has gone against the gains of passengers in operations within the country. Last year, revenue from passengers in TAM's domestic operations fell 6,4% (to R $ 4,8 billion), while revenue from cargo transportation grew 11,9% (to R $ 360 million). On the international routes, while passenger revenues grew 38,5% (to R $ 2,1 billion), cargo gains increased 153% (to R $ 416 million).
