Census Says Publication of Final Rule on Mandatory AES Filing of Export Information is Imminent
At the March 11, 2008 meeting of the Bureau of Industry and Security's Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee, Census officials characterized as "imminent" the publication of a final rule to amend the Foreign Trade Statistics Regulations in order to, among other things, require mandatory filing of export information through the Automated Export System for all shipments where a Shipper's Export Declaration is currently required.
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Final Rule is Expected to be Similar to the February 2005 Proposed Rule
Other Census officials have recently stated that the final rule is expected to be similar to Census' proposed rule, which was published in the Federal Register on February 17, 2005.
(The final rule had been delayed due to concerns raised by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) related to (1) the "grandfathering" of "AES Option 4" U.S. Principal Parties in Interest (USPPIs) into the final rule's Postdeparture Program and (2) the sharing of confidential export information from AES with foreign governments.)
Highlights of Census' February 2005 proposed rule include the (partial list):
removal of the requirements for filing a paper SED (Option 1), Form 7525-V, so that AES will be the only mode for filing information currently required by the SED;
revision of postdeparture approval procedures;
increase of civil penalties for late or false filings to a maximum of $1000 (from $100) for each day's delinquency, not to exceed $10,000 (from $1000) per violation.
addition of language specifying the procedure for reporting the value of goods to AES when inland freight and insurance charges are not known at the time of exportation;
specification that in "routed" transactions, the U.S. principal party in interest (USPPI) would compile and transmit export information on behalf of the foreign principal party in interest (FPPI) when authorized by the FPPI;
specification of the time and place-of-filing requirements for presenting proof of filing citations, postdeparture filing citations, and/or exemption legends;
addition of requirements for transmitting a Routed Transaction Indicator and a Vehicle Identification Qualifier to the list of data elements required to be reported to AES;
Final Rule Will Have 90-Day "Informed Compliance" Period
Census officials state that the final rule is expected to take effect 30 days from its date of publication and will have a 90-day "informed compliance" period.
Census Has Delegated Enforcement of Final Rule to CBP and BIS
Census notes that it has delegated enforcement of the final rule's provisions to CBP and BIS and has been providing training to CBP.
Census officials stated that they intend to send staff to the ports to work with CBP at the beginning of the implementation to monitor the situation and prevent paper from being filed.
Census has been working with CBP and BIS on penalty mitigation guidelines that will be available by the end of the 90-day informed compliance period.
Census Prepares to Launch Intensive Outreach Effort
At the RPTAC meeting, Census officials outlined their expected outreach efforts for the upcoming final rule, including: videos, AES broadcasts, AES newsletters, notices to the export community, and public meetings. Many of these educations "tools" will be available on the day that the final rule is published in the Federal Register.
Census also plans to hold town hall meetings, particularly on the southern border (where most of the paper SEDs are still being filed) in Miami, Laredo, Dallas, St. Louis, San Diego, and Puerto Rico.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/26/08 news, 08022615, for BP summary stating that the Commerce Department expects mandatory AES filing of export information to begin in the second quarter of 2008.
See ITT's Online Archives or 03/28/05 news, 05032820, for the final part of BP's 12-part series of summaries on Census' proposed rule, with links to the other parts.)