Sea cargo manifest: ICEGATE explains how to amend a CSN or Sea Arrival Manifest before and after Entry Inwards — Advisories 37/2026 and 38/2026
Two ICEGATE advisories on the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations set out the filing sequence for amending a Cargo Summary Notification and a Sea Arrival Manifest. Before Sea Entry Inwards the system applies amendments directly; after it, a Customs officer must approve. The FAQs add that consolidators can now delete a CSN before the SAM is filed.
Key facts
In 30 seconds
- Advisory No. 37/2026 is dated 18 September 2026; Advisory No. 38/2026 (FAQs) is dated 21 September 2026.
- The CSN must be filed before the SAM or SDM; a SAM amendment (SAA) depends on a CSN already being on the system.
- Before Sea Entry Inwards, CSN and SAM amendments are applied by the system without officer approval.
- After Sea Entry Inwards, both CSN and SAM amendments need the jurisdictional Customs officer’s approval.
- Changing a bill of lading from Straight to Consolidated, the Consolidator PAN or the previous reference cannot be done in place — the record must be deleted and re-filed.
- Container ISO Code and Container Agent PAN are now validated only at the SAM level, not at the CSN level.
हिंदी में सार
ICEGATE ने Advisory 37/2026 (18 सितंबर 2026) और 38/2026 (21 सितंबर 2026) में बताया है कि SCMTR के तहत Cargo Summary Notification (CSN) और Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) में संशोधन कैसे होगा। Sea Entry Inwards से पहले संशोधन सिस्टम सीधे लागू कर देता है; उसके बाद कस्टम्स अधिकारी की मंज़ूरी ज़रूरी है। BL का प्रकार या Consolidator PAN बदलना हो तो रिकॉर्ड हटाकर दोबारा फ़ाइल करना होगा, और SAM फ़ाइल होने से पहले फ़ॉरवर्डर अब CSN ख़ुद हटा सकता है।
What these advisories cover
ICEGATE Advisory No. 37/2026 dated 18 September 2026 explains how a Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) is amended through the SAM Amendment (SAA) message under the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations (SCMTR), and how a Cargo Summary Notification (CSN) is amended through the SCA message. Advisory No. 38/2026 dated 21 September 2026 follows with FAQs for the trade.
The starting rule: the CSN must be filed before the SAM or the Sea Departure Manifest. All SAM-level processing, including an amendment, depends on a CSN already existing on the system.
The five scenarios
The path depends on whether the amendment is raised before or after Sea Entry Inwards (SEI).
| Scenario | Condition | Filing sequence | Officer approval |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 | Before SEI; SAM not yet filed | CSN amendment only | No |
| 1.1.2 | Before Entry Inwards; SAM already filed | CSN amendment, then SAA | No |
| 1.2 | Before SEI; SAM-level change | SAM amendment (direct) | No |
| 2.1 | After SEI; CSN-level change | CSN amendment, then SAA | Yes |
| 2.2 | After SEI; SAM-level change | SAM amendment | Yes |
- Before SEI, the submitter of the CSN can amend anything in it except the VCN / rotation number, and can delete it directly if the SAM has not been filed.
- If the SAM has already been filed, the CSN submitter files the amendment and shares the PCIN / MCIN / CSN of the amended data with the shipping line, which files the SAA. Deletion of the CSN at that stage is done by the jurisdictional Customs officer.
- A change in a CSN that is referred to at a subsequent port has to be made at the first port of entry.
- If no CSN was filed before the SAM, the shipping line can add House BL details through an SAA. Lines are advised to compile such requests and file one consolidated SAA.
Points from the FAQs
- Master BL filed as a Straight BL by mistake. If the forwarder has filed a CSN, the vessel operator drops the Straight BL line in the SAA and re-adds the Master BL as consolidated, linking the CSN and House BL references. If no CSN was filed, the operator puts the full House BL details in the SAA.
- No in-place change of BL type (Straight / Consolidated), Consolidator PAN or previous reference (CSN / PCIN / MCIN). The record must be deleted and re-filed.
- Flags in the SAA file. Message type is F (fresh) or A (amendment, mandatory for every SAA). Amendment type is S (addition), D (delete) or U (modify).
- Validation eased. Container ISO Code and Container Agent PAN were earlier validated at both CSN and SAM levels. They are now validated only at the SAM level.
- CSN deletion by the forwarder has been enabled, provided the SAM has not yet been filed against that CSN.
- Acknowledgement delays. Dedicated schedulers for large manifest files and database indexing are in place; a submission status enquiry utility is under implementation.
What shipping lines and consolidators should do
File correct data at the CSN stage, because a mismatch between CSN and SAM data gives a validation error at the SAM level. If you receive Error 700 – Refile, the file was not processed and must be filed again, but do not file the same data repeatedly within a short time.
Questions and answers
Does an amendment to a Sea Arrival Manifest need Customs approval?
Before Sea Entry Inwards, no — the amendment is processed directly. Once Sea Entry Inwards has been granted, both CSN and SAM amendments need the jurisdictional Customs officer’s approval before they take effect.
Can a freight forwarder delete a CSN filed with wrong data?
Yes, provided the corresponding SAM has not yet been filed against that CSN. After deletion, the corrected particulars can be filed again. Once the SAM is filed, deletion is done by the jurisdictional Customs officer.
How do I change a bill of lading from Straight to Consolidated?
It cannot be updated in place. The existing bill of lading record has to be deleted through the amendment and re-filed in the SAA with the correct cargo relationships.
What does Error 700 – Refile mean?
It indicates partial processing: the file was not processed successfully and needs to be refiled. The advisory asks filers to avoid filing the same data many times within a short duration.
Are Container ISO Code and Container Agent PAN still checked at the CSN stage?
No. As per the FAQs, these validations have been de-linked from the CSN level and are now done only at the SAM level.
Published 21 September 2026. Updated 7 October 2026. This report is for general information and is not professional advice. Read the source document before acting on it.