In a Federal Register notice published on January 31, 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau announced the launch of the Advanced Export Information (AEI) Pilot Program, which will allow selected exporters to obtain an Internal Transaction Number (ITN) after submitting limited Electronic Export Information (EEI) on non-exempt commodities. The remaining data elements have to be transmitted within five calendar days of the date of export.
The notice states that the mandatory pre-departure data elements “were chosen because in meetings with members of the export trade community, they indicated that these data elements are commonly available prior to export.” These mandatory data elements include, but are not limited to:
- USPPI Information
- Ultimate Consignee Information
- Commodity Classification Number (Schedule B/HTS)
- Date of Export
- Carrier Identification
- License Code/License Exemption Code
- Export Control Classification Number (ECCN)
Applications need to be submitted by April 1, 2014 and, once approved, applicants must configure their systems within 60 days.
Commodities excluded from the pilot include:
- Goods controlled under Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ECCNs (with the exception of those specifically permitted to be filed postdeparture by the BIS)
- Commodities under a general or specific license
- All shipments required to be transmitted predeparture
In order to be eligible for the pilot, the participant must:
- Be a USPPI (Authorized agents can transmit on behalf of a selected USPPI but may not apply to join)
- Have 12 months of export reporting history
- Report a minimum of ten shipments per month
- Show an acceptable level of compliance for export reporting for the latest 12-month period
- Be compliant with all other federal regulations related to trade import and export transactions.
If the pilot is deemed successful, the AES Postdeparture Filing is expected to be discontinued and replaced with the AEI filing alternative.
The Federal Register notice which includes additional information can be accessed here
