May 2012 AES Newsletter Covers AES Compliance Rate; NVOCCs; Etc.

New AES Compliance Rate is Implemented in April Compliance Report

Census said that, beginning with the April 2012 AES Compliance Report, a new Compliance Rate was implemented and filers received additional information regarding any unresolved AES Fatal Errors. According to Census, this modification will provide AES filers with a complete Compliance Rate that reflects a filer’s effort to maintain compliance with the Foreign Trade Regulations.

Additions to the AES Compliance Report include:

• Identifying the last three digits of your Filer ID.
• Fatal Error information, including the number of unresolved Fatal Errors, the Shipment Reference Number, AES Response Code, and AES Response Narrative for any unresolved Fatal Errors.
• Your most frequent unresolved Fatal Errors during the reporting period, with a description of the reason for the error, as well as a suggested method for resolving the error. To see a complete listing of all AES Filing Response Messages, see Appendix A of the AESTIR.

If your AES Compliance Rate is lower than before, please review your Fatal Errors and take steps to resolve them as soon as possible, said Census

According to Census, 15 CFR Part 30—Foreign Trade Regulations, Section 30.9 states that these errors must be corrected and the Electronic Export Information resubmitted prior to export for shipments filed predeparture and as soon as possible for shipments filed postdeparture (but not later than 10 calendar days after departure).

(See ITT's Online Archives 12032222 for summary of AES announcement that the calculation of AES Compliance Rates will include fatal errors beginning with the April 2012 AES Compliance Report, as well as additional details of this change.)

Census Reminds of Release of Profile of Importing and Exporting Companies 2009-10

The Newsletter includes a reminder that Census released the report “A Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies 2009-2010" (here) on April 12. Census said the report included two new exhibits on 2009 and 2010 Exports by 3-Digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for Small and Medium Sized Companies SMEs (Exhibits 7a and 7b, respectively).

(See ITT's Online Archives 12041306 for summary of Census' release of the Report.)

Correct Way to Use a NVOCC "Booking Number"

The Transportation Reference Number (TRN) is a conditional field reported in the Automated Export System (AES), required for vessel shipments. The TRN is required to be reported as the "booking number", which is the reservation number assigned by the carrier to hold space on the vessel for cargo to be exported.

NVOCC may provide TRN booking number. Census said in some cases an entity other than the carrier, normally called a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC), will book space on the vessel. In those cases, the NVOCC will provide that booking number to the US Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) or the authorized agent to report in the AES.

Need to match up NVOCC or carrier with its booking action. The USPPI or authorized agent is allowed to report the carrier code of either the NVOCC or the actual carrier. According to Census, one can report the carrier code and booking number from either the actual carrier or the NVOCC. The key to reporting then, is to match the carrier or NVOCC code to its respective booking action. Census provides the following table to illustrate:

DSP-5 "Foreign End User" Is Ultimate Consignee in AES

Based on the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), Section 30.2(a)(1)(iv), any export shipment requiring a U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls license, or is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) must be reported in the AES, regardless of value. In its October 2010 AES Newsletter, Census included an article that intended to clarify the reporting requirements based on the fields in the AES, as compared to the information contained on the DSP-5 license.

In this issue of the AES newsletter, Census provides clarification related to the End User and Ultimate Consignee fields. Census said there is no End User field in the AES; however, the Ultimate Consignee may be the End User. Based on the FTR, Section 30.1, the definition of the Ultimate Consignee is “the person, party, or designee that is located abroad and actually receives the export shipment. This party may be the end user or Foreign Principal Party in Interest (FPPI).” Based on this definition, Census said, box 14 on the DSP-5 license, “Foreign End User” will need to be shown as the Ultimate Consignee in the AES.

New Features Available on USA Trade Online

Census’ May Newsletter reported new features for USA Trade Online, a source for U.S. merchandise trade data. Census said navigation has been streamlined, country groupings by geographic area and international organization are now available, users can create their own customized commodity and country groups, and users will experience faster loading times.

AES Broadcast Messages Include Important Info on Export Filing Practices

Census, in an educational overview of AES Broadcast messages, said that such messages do not generally contain specific information that pertains to a single company. However, it is important to remember to review messages’ contents carefully, because they may affect you. According to Census, AES Broadcast messages could, and often do impact export filing practices in some capacity.