CUSDEC — EDIFACT Customs Declaration Message (D.08A)

The CUSDEC message is the customs declaration sent by a declarant to a customs administration for import or export: detailed declaration of goods, value, origin, customs regime and associated duties. It is one of the largest EDIFACT messages. This page summarises the segment structure as published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.08A.

Purpose

The CUSDEC message is the customs declaration sent by a declarant to a customs administration for import or export: detailed declaration of goods, value, origin, customs regime and associated duties. It is one of the largest EDIFACT messages.

This page focuses on the structure published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.08A. The segments listed, their status (M / C), position and repetition factor are extracted from the official file cusdec_c.htm hosted on service.unece.org.

Segment structure

The CUSDEC D.08A message has 207 header entries, 0 detail entries and 10 summary entries (segments and groups combined). Groups are shown in bold and their members are indented by actual nesting depth.

Header

Detail

No segment in this section.

Summary

Changes vs D.96A

Top-level differences between D.96A and D.08A for the CUSDEC message (segments directly inside header / detail / summary, ignoring nested groups). The comparison is indicative: a given tag may have evolved inside nested groups without showing up in this synthesis.

Segments added vs D.96A

• GEI in the header section (status C, repeat ×25) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• EFI in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• CED in the header section (status C, repeat ×99) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• QTY in the header section (status C, repeat ×9) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• UNS in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• DMS in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PYT in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PCD in the header section (status C, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• ALC in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• RTE in the header section (status C, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• LIN in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PIA in the header section (status C, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PRI in the header section (status C, repeat ×2) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• QVR in the header section (status C, repeat ×5) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GIR in the header section (status C, repeat ×9999) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• IMD in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GIN in the header section (status C, repeat ×99) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GDS in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• TAX in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GEI in the summary section (status C, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.

Segments removed vs D.96A

• GIS in the header section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• UNS in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• DMS in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• DTM in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• MEA in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• MOA in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• CUX in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• TOD in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• LOC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• FTX in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• NAD in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• DOC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• PAC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• PCI in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• RFF in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• PAT in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• PCD in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• ALC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• RTE in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• QTY in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• LIN in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• PIA in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• PRI in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• QVR in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• GIR in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• IMD in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• CST in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• TDT in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• GIN in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• GDS in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• GIS in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• TAX in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.
• GIS in the summary section — present in D.96A but missing in D.08A at the same level.

Max-repeat changes

• FTX (header): repeat ×1 in D.96A → ×99 in D.08A.

Structural example

Minimal example of an CUSDEC D.08A message with mandatory segments only. The goal is to show the exact version declared in UNH (CUSDEC:D:08A:UN) — not to replicate a full business case (see the CUSDEC D.96A page for an annotated example).

UNB+UNOC:3+5410000000123:14+5410000000456:14+260514:1430+CTRL008001'
UNH+1+CUSDEC:D:08A:UN'
BGM+929+CUSDEC-2026-7811+9'
DTM+137:20260514:102'
NAD+CZ+5410000000123::9'
NAD+EX+5410000000456::9'
CST+1+850430:NCM:FR'
MOA+38:42500.00:EUR'
LOC+27+FR::ISO'
LOC+28+CN::ISO'
UNT+9+1'
UNZ+1+CTRL008001'

Common errors

• Misaligned UNH tokens — The UNH+...+CUSDEC:D:08A:UN token must reflect exactly the directory in use — a mismatch between the UNH release and the release agreed with the partner is rejected by every strict validator.
• Wrong UNT segment count — The value after UNT+ must include UNH and UNT themselves. By far the most common sender-side error, regardless of the directory in use.
• Stale code lists — Between D.96A and D.08A, several code lists received new qualifiers (DTM status, RFF qualifier, NAD codes…). Reusing an older directory’s code tables triggers warnings or even rejections depending on the partner’s strict-conformance mode.

Related messages

Other versions of this message available on ediverse.io: CUSDEC D.96A, CUSDEC D.01B, CUSDEC D.10A, CUSDEC D.16B, CUSDEC D.21B, CUSDEC D.24A, CUSDEC D.97A, CUSDEC D.99B, CUSDEC D.00B, CUSDEC D.02B, CUSDEC D.05A, CUSDEC D.13B, CUSDEC D.18B, CUSDEC D.20B.

X12 functional equivalent: X12 309.

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