ESS launches JetDocs to enable electronic traceability of Jet Fuel

News Release Electronic Shipping Solutions ESS May 9, 2011

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New eDocs service enables refineries, traders, airlines
and airports to demonstrate compliance with Def Stan 91-91 Issue 7 quality and
origin traceability requirements for A-1 jet fuel
VALETTA, MALTA,
09 May 2011: Electronic Shipping Solutions (ESS),
the leading shipping and trade eDocs provider is pleased to announce the launch
of JetDocs, the first compliance solution for full batch traceability of Jet
Fuel.
JetDocs was
developed by ESS with input from cargo inspection specialist SGS based on
requests from Jet Fuel traders for a solution that would enable them to easily
demonstrate compliance with the new Def Stan 91-91 Issue 7 traceability
requirements which come into force on 18 May
2011. 
JetDocs is a
web-based solution which allows for Refinery Certificates of Quality,
Certificates of Analysis and Release Certificates to be uploaded into the ESS eDocs
Exchange, validated and sent to the logistics provider, a storage operator,
pipeline company or to the final buyer. Certificates are validated by authorized
signatories defined by the contracting parties such as approved Independent
Inspectors, who confirm that the required information is both complete and that
all of the traceability obligations under Issue 7 are met. 
JetDocs are then securely distributed through the trade
chain.
The process is
batch-based, but JetDocs has the ability to merge, split and otherwise handle
batches as eDocs to deal with all day-to-day scenarios relating to handling Jet
Fuel via tanks, vessels and pipes. Tracking of sending and receipt is automated,
along with the ability to review a full chain of certificates. As with other ESS
eDocs, all JetDocs are stored and available online for 12
years.
Alexander
Goulandris, Chief Executive of ESS said: 
“Aviation fuel
quality assurance is based on two key concepts: batches and traceability. The
explicit need for traceability between trading parties and along logistic chains
all the way back to the point of manufacture made the jet fuel traceability
requirement an obvious candidate for ESS eDocs. The functionality that we have
demonstrated in the crude and products markets – safety, security and efficiency
– is now available to jet fuel traders thanks to JetDocs.”
Jerry Tucker,
Ministry of Defence said during an Aviation Fuels Committee meeting:

“A key challenge in
the jet fuel market is to ensure the quality of jet fuel provided to and used by
end users.  This challenge has increased with an ever larger
number of suppliers, traders and alternative bio fuels entering the
market.  Def Stan 91-91 Issue 7 aims to solve this issue by
requiring traceability of Jet Fuel from point of manufacture to end
use.”
Richard Taylor,
Global Manager OGC of SGS said: 
“As the energy
sector evolves, and new players enter various markets, there is a pressing need
for tools to be available that allow these new entrants to trade with
confidence, but at the same time manage risk and compliance issues effectively
from the outset.  Aviation fuels have to, by their very
nature, be managed, documented and handled with extreme attention to detail.
 Issue 7 of DefStan 91-91 set out the need and the level of
compliance necessary with great care and precision, and ESS have responded to
the challenge by creating a simple yet elegant web based solution to the needs
of all of the stakeholders, from refinery, through the various trade
intermediaries to the airlines. For the first time as fuel goes into the wing at
an airport, the airline can have immediate, validated supply chain confidence.
This is a significant step to providing the industry with the level of secure,
validated information that Def Stan 91-91 has sought to require, but that to
date has been frequently almost impossible to gather with
paper.”
Key documents in the
JetDocs solution include Refinery Certificate of Quality (RCQ) and the
Certificate of Analysis (CoA). The RCQ can be compared to a birth certificate
for jet fuel since it is issued only once when the batch is manufactured and it
contains data that will never change. It is issued only by authorised staff who
are responsible for the document in case of audit.  The CoA is
the working document along the chain of custody comparable to a passport for the
product. It contains less data than an RCQ and can be issued by any registered
or component lab. It is only valid when tethered directly or via other CoA
chains to one or more RCQs and cannot be used as a standalone
document.
In addition, i7
requires the use of Release Certificates which accompany the consignment notes
when fuel is physically moved. The RC confirms compliance at the time of
delivery into a system and can be considered as the visa for the product’s entry
into a specific location.
i7 also makes
explicit the need for traceability because certain key data can only be known at
the point of manufacture and this data must both be documented and passed along
the chain of custody. Each link in the chain will involve a movement such as
loading or pumping along a pipeline. 
Most of these
physical movements will involve some destruction of batch integrity (mixing of
multiple tanks, mixing of pipeline batches, pumping of new stock into existing
stock held in tank etc). This requires that there be re-batching multiple times
and hence all batch numbers must be traceable back to the source.

ESS JetDocs enable
product validation by refineries and surveyors along the trade and logistics
chain.  Audit logs confirm traceability back to the original
RCQ and evidence 91-91 i7 content compliance. Existing ESS customers have the
option to use original electronic certificates rather than PDF uploads, so that
data from the eDocs can be downloaded directly into existing operations systems.
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