Committee F49

Digital Information in the Supply Chain

A Briefing for the National Shippers Advisory Committee

and Potential Collaboration

November 16, 2023

F49 Committee Members/Participants

Private Sector: 

AAR, Cisco, Coalition for 

Reimagined Mobility, 

CropTrak, Farm to Plate, 

GS1, HIDA, IDFA, IFPA, 

Microsoft, MITRE, NRF, 

Open Visibility Network, 

QuayChain, RILA, Semios, 

Stress Engineering, WWF

Academia:

Georgia Tech, 

NC State, 

Tuskegee, Johns 

Hopkins

Agencies:

FMC, DOT, STB, 

NIST, FDA, Defense 

Logistics Agency, 

US Army
November ASTM Committee Week

• F49 Seminar: Briefings from FMC (Bentzel), STB (Fuchs), and DOT (Petrisin)

• Active F49 subcommittees set up productive discussions on milestones and 

interoperability

• 2024 Goals

• Next Committee Week: April 10-11, 2024 in Philadelphia (hybrid event)

• Subcommittees meet on weekly or biweekly basis

• Draft standards for all 12 work items by summer 2024

• New work items on working data set and interoperability by spring 2024
Subcommittees: • Fees and Surcharges • Data and Visibility • Chassis

Submitted Recommendations: • Dwell Fees • Intermodal Oversight • Earliest Return Date • Ocean Carrier Advisory Committee • Shipment Level, Container Level, Intermodal 

Data Alignment

• Government Inspections • Export Cargo and Import Cargo Data Elements • Demurrage and Detention Billing Practices

National Shipper 

Advisory Committee 

(NSAC)

Committee F49

Digital Information 

in the Supply Chain

Subcommittees: • F49.01 Terminology • F49.02 Interoperability • F49.03Essential Data Set • F49.04 Recommended Practices, Guides, 

and Specifications

• F49.05Enabling Technology • F49.06 Measurement • F49.91 Long-range Planning

Active Work Items: 

WK87207, WK87215, WK87321, 

WK87871, WK88045, WK88046,WK88047,

WK88048, WK88049, WK88050, WK88126,

WK88617

REGULATION/POLICY STANDARDS
Working together

1. Regular discussions between NSAC Data Subcommittee and 

F49 leadership 

• NSAC standards needs

• F49 to advise on existing standards

• F49 may work on items suggested by NSAC 

2. NSAC members may benefit from joining F49

• NSAC members may serve on the 

Long-Range Planning Subcommittee 

and other Subcommittees

• NSAC will have early visibility on draft standards
Q&A

Jeff Weiss

• Partner

• Steptoe & Johnson LLP

• Chair, F49 Committee

• jweiss@Steptoe.com
F49 Committee Week (Nov 1-2, 2023)
STANDARDS (voluntary)

• International/global standards bodies (e.g., ASTM International, 

GS1, ISO)

• Intergovernmental bodies (e.g., WCO, IMO)

• National standards bodies (e.g., ANSI)

• Non-consensus standards bodies (e.g., DCSA)

• National measurement institutes (e.g., NIST)

• OMB Circular A-119, Federal Participation in the Development and 

Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity 

Assessment Activities

• The White House Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration 

Announces National Standards Strategy for Critical and 

Emerging Technology

LAWS AND REGULATIONS (mandatory)

• Shipping Act, as amended

• Regulations to implement OSRA

• National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

POLICY (voluntary guidance)

• Maritime Transportation Data System

Scope:

The promotion of knowledge, stimulation of research, and the development of 

standards and specifications, formulation of definitions and terminology, and 

development of recommended practices and guides related to the sharing 

and use of digital information in the supply chain. The Committee will 

coordinate with any other ASTM Technical Committees and other standards 

development organizations (SDO) with related interests and ensure that the 

standards are technology and vendor neutral, and the standards 

development process is consistent with WTO principles.

Mission:

ASTM International Committee F49 is focused on providing the data 

standards necessary for next generation efficiencies in the global 

supply chain process covering all major modes of transport: Ocean 

Full Container, Ocean Less-Than-Container, Short-Sea, Road, Rail 

and Air. The high shipping volumes in 2020-2022 forced the industry 

to confront massive port congestion that resulted from the limitations 

of the current, manual communication process.

Committee F49 Digital Information in the Supply Chain

F49 Active Work Items

• F49.04 WK87207 New Practice for Container Availability

• F49.01 WK87215 New Terminology for FMC's MTDI Lexicon Comparison or Alignment

• F49.01 WK87321 New Terminology for Goods Movement Process (GMP) Precise Foundational Definitions

• F49.01 WK87871 New Terminology for Supply Chain Terms and Modifiers for Objects, Events and States

• F49.01 WK88045 New Terminology for Event Terms Used Between Posted and Pre-Booked

• F49.01 WK88046 New Terminology for Event Terms Used Between Pre-Booked and Booked

• F49.01 WK88047 New Terminology for Event Terms Used Between Booked and En Route

• F49.01 WK88048 New Terminology for Event Terms Used Between En Route and Delivered

• F49.01 WK88049 New Terminology for Event Terms Used Between Delivered and Invoiced

• F49.01 WK88050 New Terminology for Event Terms Used Between Invoiced and Archived

• F49.03 WK88126 New Specification for on the Essential Data Set for the Transport of Cargo

• F49.01 WK88617 New Terminology for Aligning MTDI Lexicon with NSAC Minimum Required Export and 

Import Data Set

WK88617

New Terminology for Aligning MTDI Lexicon with

NSAC Minimum Required Export and Import Data Set

F49 Committee Officers

• Chair: Jeff Weiss, Steptoe & Johnson LLP

• Vice-Chair:Jack B. Crumbly, Tuskegee University

• Membership Secretary: Drew Zabrocki, Semios

• Recording Secretary:Robert Handfield, North Carolina State University

• Subcommittee chair (terminology): Michael Darden, DFM Data Corp

• Subcommittee chair (interoperability): Iliriana Kacaniku, Open Visibility 

Network

• Subcommittee chair (essential data set): Bryn Heimbeck, Trade Tech

• Subcommittee chair (recommended practices, guides, and 

specifications): Jaco Voorspuij, FixLog Consulting

• Subcommittee chair (enabling technology): Rob Rosenberg, NTELX