# Presentation: 721623

## U.S. Foreign Waterborne Transportation Statistics Program

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

- Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center
- Susan Hassett
- October 10, 2002

- TSN PLENARY SESSION
- PGA PANEL DISCUSSION

## Corps Navigation Program

-  $1.75 billion per year:
- Planning
- Engineering
- Construction
- Operations
- Maintenance
- Rehabilitation

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
Currently, the USACE annually budgets $1.75 billion to address navigation planning, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance.  

In order to justify and prioritize the expenditure of the these funds, the Corps needs timely, accurate and complete data describing the use of the U.S. waterways, locks, and channels.  

These data are critical to the projection of future use, which is the basis for the computation of future benefits of any recommended navigation project improvement or major rehabilitation.  

Moreover, documentation of past use is required for continuing the maintenance of channels as well as setting maintenance priorities among channels.  

The waterborne import and export commodities and inbond cargo movements and foreign vessel traffic compromise most of the coastal channel activity (from in and out U.S. ports).  
Therefore, it is imperative that the Corps receives timely, accurate and complete data.

## Partners to Interagency Agreement

- U.S. Customs Service - data collection
-  U.S. Bureau of the Census - data processing, quality control, production and distribution of products, and cost sharing
-  USACE - quality control, limited processing, Corps distribution and cost sharing
-  Maritime Administration, USDOT – processing of vessel movement data, quality control and cost sharing
- (***** Party to 1947 Agreement)

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
From 1947 up to 1998 the functions of the foreign program for each Federal agency involved were defined such that the U.S Customs Service was responsible for the data collection.

The Bureau of the Census provided data processing, quality control, and the production and distribution of trade products.

The US Army Corps of Engineers also provided quality control, limited processing and Corps distribution of the trade and transportation products.

MarAd processed the vessel movement data and provided quality control.

The cost of the program was shared between Census, the Corps and MarAd  

## Foreign Waterborne Transportation Statistics Program (FWTSP)

- OMB assigned responsibility to the Corps
- (Office of Management and Budget)
- Effective date: 1 October 1998
- Corps funds Maritime Administration (MarAd) to produce trade-base products
- Reengineering process decided use of manifest data as primary cargo data source for the Corps

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
On September 28, 1998 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) designated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the central collection agency for the U.S. Foreign Waterborne Transportation Statistics program, effective October 1, 1998.  

This decision followed a review of the FWTSP at the direction of the OMB.  The U.S. Bureau of the Census previously produced the database and products for the program in conjunction with their trade program.

Based on the expertise of the transportation agencies involved it was determined that program responsibility should be transferred to the Corps with operational support from the Maritime Administration (MarAd).  MarAd would continue to produce trade-based products. The Corps designated the Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center as the office of primary responsibility for collecting and publishing foreign waterborne transportation statistics pursuant to its authority under the 1922 River and Harbor Act (33 U.S.C. 555).

Over the last couple of years, we have been re-engineering our transportation program.  The decision was made to use the manifest data as the primary cargo data source.

## Current Interagency Agreement

- U.S. Customs Service - data collection
- U.S. Bureau of the Census - data processing, quality control, distribution of trade data to Corps and MarAd
- USACE – responsibility for the program, quality control, processing of the transportation data, Corps distribution, and primary source of funds
- USDOT, Maritime Administration – processing of vessel movement data, quality control, production and distribution of trade-based products, and cost sharing
- (***** Party to 1947 Agreement)

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
The current Interagency Agreement has been modified. Customs still has the primary function of data collection
Census provides the data processing, quality control and distribution of trade data to the Corps and MarAd
The Corps now has the responsibility for the transportation program, processing the manifest-based data, quality control and Corps distribution.  The Corps is the primary source of funds for the transportation program.
MarAd still processes the vessel movement data and provides quality control.  For continuity during this transition phase, they now produce and distribute the trade-based transportation products previously published by Census and share in that cost.
Trade-based focuses on origin / destination of commodity and its value.
For transportation data the cargo must also be associated with the vessel and its load / off-load geographical location.
The vessel movement (Entrance / Clearance) data collected by U.S. Customs and processed by MarAd is an important factor (it’s value added) in the transportation program. 

## MARAD Produces Existing U.S. Foreign Waterborne Trade-based Transportation Statistics 

_**Census Trade Data**_
**Imports / Exports**
**Commodity**
**Foreign Country**
**Value / Weight**

_**Customs Transportation Data**_
**Vessel Movements**
**Vessel ID / Manifest #**
**U.S. Channel and Dock**
**Vessel Draft / Capacity**

**Data Processing to Combine the Two**

**Database and Products**

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
This simplified flowchart depicts MarAd’s production of the existing U.S. foreign trade-based transportation statistics:
The main components of the Census trade data (referred to as the NETS) of commodity, value and weight by imports and exports is matched to the transportation data provided by Customs.
The source for the vessel movement file is the Customs Web-based VMS program supplemented with PC version and hardcopy 1400 / 1401:  Vessel Entrances / Clearances.  This file is processed by MarAd and provided to the Corps.  MarAd uses various sources for supplemental and quality checks on the Customs data.
The transportation data provides the vessel movements (at the U.S. port, channel, and dock level) and vessel characteristics (name, identifier, size and draft)
The combination of trade-based cargo data and vessel movements produce the trade-based database and products.  This combination is necessary since the cargo in the trade data is disassociated from the vessel movement information. The join puts the cargo on the correct vessel.

## WCSC’s CY2000 U.S. Foreign Waterborne Manifest-based Transportation Statistics

_**Manifest Data**_
**Imports / Exports / In-transits**
**Foreign Port / Country**
**Commodity / Weight / Container**
**Vessel ID / Manifest # / U.S. Port**

**Data Processing to Combine the Two**

**Database and WCSC Products**

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

_**Customs Transportation Data**_
**Vessel Movements**
**Vessel ID / Manifest #**
**U.S. Channel and Dock**
**Vessel Draft / Capacity**

**Notes:**
Beginning with the 2000 calendar year data, Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center matched the manifest data whose main components consists of tonnage by commodity, foreign port and country, vessel, manifest number, and U.S. port for imports, exports and in-transits to the transportation data (provided by Customs).  The transportation data from the Customs VMS provides the vessel movements (U.S. port, channel, and dock and the port manifest number) and vessel characteristics (name, identifier, size and draft).
The vessel identification and manifest number captured in the manifest data enables a more complete and accurate match to the vessel movement data.
This combined file produces the manifest-based database and products for the Transportation program.

## Waterborne In-Transit Cargo Movements

- Definition:  Cargo moving in-bond through the U.S. from one foreign country to another foreign country via a U.S. coastal port.
- Inbound Source:  Customs 7512 Form or Customs Automated Manifest System (AMS)
- Outbound Source:  USACE 7513 Form

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
Waterborne in-transit cargo is cargo moving in-bond through the U.S. from one foreign country to another foreign country via a U.S. coastal port.  Census does not include in-transit data in their trade statistics, since the cargo is not for U.S. consumption and does not affect the balance of trade. In-transit cargo is transportation data, and since it is using U.S. ports and waterways it does affect the transportation statistics.

The source for the inbound movements (cargo entering a U.S. port by vessel) is the Customs 7512 hardcopy Form (Transportation Entry and Manifest of Goods Subject to Customs Inspection and Permit) or electronic submission in the Customs Automated Manifest System (AMS).
The source for the outbound movements (cargo leaving a U.S. port by vessel) is the USACE 7513 hardcopy Form (Shipper’s Export Declaration for In-transit Goods.  There are a few outbound in-transit moves reported in AMS. 
The 7512 and 7513 forms are sent to us by Customs after clearing the vessel.  We also receive the AMS directly from Customs

## Key Foreign Waterborne Transportation Data Elements and Their Uses

**Imports, Exports and ****In-transits**

_***Element***_
**Foreign Port**
**Channel and Dock**

**Vessel Operating Draft**

**Total tons on vessel; channel depth benefit / cost analysis**

_***Use***_
**Trade route, voyage costs**
**Corps project specificity ****(****e.g. Hudson River)**

_**All**_** cargo using the channels**

**Vessel class and size;channel dimensions analysis; operating costs**

**Vessel Name**

**Commodity Type, Weight and Value**

**Supply/demand (present and future)**

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
To re-state: The key foreign waterborne transportation data elements and their uses are:

## Waterborne Data Sources

- MarAd processed trade and transportation data - monthly
- Census Trade NETS
- Customs Vessel Entrances / Clearances (VMS)
- VMS direct from Customs – weekly
- Forms 7512 / 7513 from Customs – daily
- Customs Automated Manifest System data - monthly
- Processed manifest data from Journal of Commerce, Port Import Export Reporting Service (PIERS) – monthly
- Various sources for supplemental and quality control

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
MarAd processes the Bureau of the Census monthly trade NETS; data supplied by brokers, freight forwarders or carriers and the Customs vessel entrances and clearances (VMS). 
The Corps recently set-up the process to receive the VMS directly from Customs on a weekly basis.
Customs forwards the 7512 / 7513 Forms to the Corps after clearing the vessel.
Customs also mails the monthly AMS data to the Corps.
Under our new re-engineered transportation program starting with the 2000 calendar year data, the Corps uses the manifest data provided by the Journal of Commerce, Port Import Export Reporting Service (PIERS), a privately owned company.  Their database includes data from AMS or collected from the Bills of Lading filed by the ship lines at each U.S. Customs port.  This additional manifest source provides the commodity code, presently not included in AMS. 
Remember the Corps’ goal is to provide the most timely, accurate and complete data possible for the policy makers and managers of the U.S. waterway system.  At this point, there is no one source or system to provide the trade and transportation data that is essential for this mission.   Hopefully, ACE will met these needs.

## Web Site Address

- www.iwr.usace.army.mil/ndc
- Institute for Water Resources
-  Navigation Data Center
- Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center
- Navigation and Systems Division

**U.S. Army Corps of Engineers**

**Notes:**
The Corps web site is : www.iwr.usace.army.mil
Under the Institute for Water Resources, 
Navigation Data Center.
Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center provides our transportation statistics.

Navigation and Systems Division provides information on U.S. port facilities, dredging, and U.S lock characteristics and performance.