AES Changes Fully Enforceable on October 3, 2014

Starting on October 3, 2014, the AES regulations that were effective on April 15 become fully enforceable, which means the U.S. Census Bureau can start issuing penalties if you aren’t reporting the new data elements introduced earlier this year through the Automated Export System (AES).

Here is a summary of the new data elements.

Filing Option

You must report whether you are filing pre-departure or post-departure. Most companies must file pre-departure.

Ultimate Consignee Type

You must report whether your customer or Ultimate Consignee is a Direct Consumer, Government Entity, Reseller or Other/Unknown. Here are the definitions from the Foreign Trade Regulations:

• Direct Consumer—A non-government institution, enterprise or company that will consume or use the exported good as a consumable, for its own internal processes, as an input to the production of another good, or as machinery or equipment that is part of a manufacturing process or a provision of services and will not resell or distribute the good.
• Government Entity—A government-owned or government-controlled agency, institution, enterprise or company.
• Reseller—A non-government reseller, retailer, wholesaler, distributor, distribution center or trading company.
• Other/Unknown—An entity that is not a Direct Consumer, Government Entity or Reseller, as defined above, or whose ultimate consignee type is not known at the time of export.

License Value

You must report the value of the items being exported under the license or permit issued by a U.S. government regulatory agency.

For Shipping Solutions users, reporting these new fields is easy. If you file your AES information electronically through Shipping Solutions, you need to be using Shipping Solutions Version 8.06 or 9.06 or higher. If you have your freight forwarder file your AES information for you then you will need Shipping Solutions Version 8.07 or 9.07 or higher.

On the EZ Start tab, fill in the three new fields on the following screens:

• Filing Option—EEI-Electronic Export Information (AES) screen
• Ultimate Consignee Type—Contacts screen, Ultimate Consignee screen
• License Value—Product Detail screen, AES/EEI section

There are more changes that become fully enforceable on October 3rd other than the three new fields. Click here to see a summary of all the changes.

Of course, not every shipment requires an AES filing. Generally you do not need to file through AES if you are shipping to Canada (with the exception of anything that requires an export license or is a used vehicle), or if you are shipping items valued at less than $2,500 when grouped by Schedule B code.

If you have a current subscription to the Annual Maintenance Program (AMP), you can download the latest version of Shipping Solutions from the AMP website. Enter your company name and AMP number to login. If you don’t know your AMP number or if your AMP subscription has expired, give us a call at (651) 905-1727.