What is “Free Text Entry” Exactly?
Free text entry simply means that a database will accept as valid entry whatever you type into an input field.

If you are trying to keep a database “clean”, free text entry is bad. Suppose that you could type 10 different versions of a customer’s name into the billing system at your company. At the month’s end, you couldn’t get a “clean” total for how much the customer bought because you would have ten different totals for the ten different versions of the customer’s name.

To prevent this situation, your company’s billing system only lets you choose a valid or verified version of your customer’s name.

How Free Text entry Relates to the Daily File That US Customs Sends Us from the Automated Manifest System (AMS)
On a house bill of lading in the Automated Manifest Systems, you find three commercial parties: a foreign manufacturer, a US importer, or notify party.

The Automated Manifest System doesn’t make shipping lines or freight forwarders enter valid or verified versions of foreign manufacturers, US importers, or notify parties.

The AMS will accept any version of a commercial party’s name as valid.

Keep in mind that shipping line and freight forwarders generally make entries from their ports of lading.

Take the “Top 5”, for instance. When they load cargo at Bremerhaven, Germany, their German offices are doing the AMS filings. When they load cargo at Yantian, China, their Chinese offices are doing the AMS filings.