Manifest & cargo

documented — grounded in the official UNCTAD manifest XML spec (S008) and national manifest manuals (S006, S007, S010, S011) and the official GEN_TAB / BOL_TAB / CTN_TAB descriptions (S015).

What the carrier declares is on board. This is the upstream document the importer's declaration later writes off against. (GOAL §4.2.)

Tables

Table	Purpose
manifest	General segment: carrier, voyage/flight, ports, dates, totals, office
bill_of_lading	A transport document (B/L / AWB). Master ⇄ house via self-reference
container	Physical containers on a B/L — ISO 6346 type, seals, weights, reefer
manifest_cargo_item	Goods/commodity lines within a B/L
manifest_status_history	Manifest lifecycle transitions

erDiagram
    manifest ||--o{ bill_of_lading : "carries"
    bill_of_lading ||--o{ bill_of_lading : "master ⇄ house"
    bill_of_lading ||--o{ container : "stuffed in"
    bill_of_lading ||--o{ manifest_cargo_item : "goods lines"
    container ||--o{ manifest_cargo_item : "packed as"
    manifest ||--o{ manifest_status_history : "lifecycle"

Master vs house — degroupage

A master bill of lading covers a full container moving carrier-to-carrier; a house bill of lading is one consignee's consignment inside it. Consolidation (degroupage) is modelled with a self-reference:

-- a house B/L points at its master
bill_of_lading.master_bl_id  →  bill_of_lading.id
bill_of_lading.is_master     boolean

Key columns — manifest

Column	Type	Meaning
office_id	FK	Customs office of arrival
manifest_year, registration_number	int	Registration serial
voyage_number, identity_of_transport	text	Voyage / vessel identity
transport_mode_id, nationality_id	FK	Mode + carrier nationality
carrier_id, shipping_agent_id	FK → trader	Parties
place_departure_id, place_destination_id	FK → ref_location	Ports
date_of_departure, date_of_arrival	date	Voyage dates
total_bols, total_packages, total_containers, total_gross_mass	num	Declared totals
status_id	FK	Current lifecycle status

Example — a manifest with its consignments

SET search_path TO asycuda, public;

SELECT m.voyage_number,
       bl.bl_reference,
       nat.name AS bl_nature,
       bl.number_of_packages,
       bl.gross_mass,
       count(ci.id) AS goods_lines
FROM manifest m
JOIN bill_of_lading bl      ON bl.manifest_id = m.id
JOIN ref_bl_nature  nat     ON nat.id = bl.bl_nature_id
LEFT JOIN manifest_cargo_item ci ON ci.bl_id = bl.id
WHERE m.voyage_number = 'V2026-042'
GROUP BY m.voyage_number, bl.bl_reference, nat.name,
         bl.number_of_packages, bl.gross_mass;

Full columns in the data dictionary.

Known gap

The manifest XML also defines a vehicle sub-segment (chassis/VIN/engine for RoRo cargo). It is documented in the research log but not modelled as a table, as it sits off the end-to-end path. Tracked in Coverage.