New eDocs service enables refineries, traders and end-users (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, 05 May 2011. essDOCS (essDOCS), 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 essDOCS 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 (i7) 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 essDOCS eDocs Exchange, validated and sent to the next supply chain participant , logistics provider such as a storage operator or pipeline company and/or to the 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 essDOCS eDocs, all JetDocs are stored and available online for 12 years.

Alexander Goulandris, Chief Executive of essDOCS 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 essDOCS 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 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 sets out the need and the level of compliance necessary with great care and precision, and essDOCS 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.

essDOCS 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 essDOCS 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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