Census Amends Export Filing Regulations to Reflect ITDS, Add New Original ITN Data Element
The Census Bureau is amending its Foreign Trade Regulations to reflect current export filing requirements in the International Trade Data System (ITDS) and add a new data element in the Automated Export System for original Internal Transaction Numbers (ITN), it said (here). In a change from its proposed rule, Census will not create a new data element to report used electronics, it said. The final rule takes effect July 18.
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Census had until recently been unsure whether it could issue the final rule in light of President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring repeal of two old regulations for every new one issued (see 1704050072). In the final rule, Census said the action is not “significant” so the two-for-one executive order doesn’t apply. Commerce removed the used electronics indicator data element, initially proposed in March 2016 (see 1603080033), in response to commenters concerned “about the clarity of and the burden related to the proposed requirement.” In another change from its proposed rule, also in response to comments (see 1605110044), Commerce revised its definition of “carrier” in the regulations to include non-vessel operating common carriers, though it declined to keep a separate definition for NVOCCs in the regulations.
The optional “original ITN” data element added by Census in the final rule “may be utilized if a previously filed shipment is replaced or divided and for which additional shipment(s) must be filed,” Census had said in its March 2016 proposal. “Adding the ‘Original ITN’ will assist the export trade community and enforcement agencies in identifying that a filer completed the mandatory filing requirements for the original shipment and any additional shipment(s),” it said. Census “will conduct extensive outreach and add Frequently Asked Questions with specific examples of the proper use of the original ITN to ensure the trade community and CBP understand the intended purpose.”
The final rule also requires that the authorized agent in a routed export transaction provide the U.S. Principal Party in Interest with the filer name, in addition to the ITN and date of export, when requested by the USPPI. The Census Bureau is also making other changes throughout the Foreign Trade Regulations, including changes to definitions and the removal of outdated provisions, to reflect the move of export filing to the ITDS.
(Federal Register 04/19/17)