7 January 2009

AES ag-ony

This article is excerpted from the 6 January 2009 edition of “American Shipper”. A previous article on this matter was sent to members on 30 December 2008, and is found at http://www.cscb.ca/050/rs_prev_e.cfm?ID=19893.

Inconsistent and excessive ocean carrier deadlines for documentation to comply with a new U.S. Census Bureau regulation are forcing many exporters to play a dangerous game of fudging shipment information to meet transport connections and then filing corrected amendments in hopes of avoiding government penalties, according to agriculture industry representatives.

Last summer, Census issued a rule making electronic filing of export declarations mandatory for U.S. exporters and freight forwarders, with enforcement beginning on Oct. 1. It eliminates the use of paper forms by requiring ocean shippers to file export data for most cargo through the existing Automated Export System (AES) 24 hours prior to vessel loading. Filing requirements for truck, rail and air cargo range from one to two hours prior to departure or arrival at the border….

The new AES regulations put the onus on carriers to help enforce the filing requirement by penalizing them for accepting cargo from a shipper that has not filed the export data on time. Shippers must also provide carriers 24 hours prior to loading an Internal Transaction Number (ITN) generated by Census as proof that the electronic export information was properly filed.

To avoid fines, most container lines have instituted stringent policies for receiving confirmation receipts well ahead of the regulatory deadline so that non-compliant shipments can be pulled from the queue without disrupting vessel loading. Carriers claim the AES rules force them to build in extra time to make sure each container has required documentation and contact the customer if the confirmation receipt is missing.

‘No Doc, No Load.’ Agriculture shippers, many of whom are used to filling orders until the last minute for same-day port delivery, say they are extremely frustrated by carriers' rules that in some cases also require containers to be delivered with full documentation -- cargo descriptions and shipping instructions for the master bill of lading (B/L) -- days earlier than previous port cutoff times.

Carriers with such "no doc, no load" policies are trying to simplify their processes for collecting data needed for the manifest so it is captured all at once rather than trickle in over several days….

About 1,800 exporters grandfathered under previous regulations are exempt from advance filing requirement because they have privileges to file export documents up to 10 days after a shipment has departed the country. Agricultural and other bulk shippers in particular like the post-departure option because the value, weight, quantity, exact final price, country of origin for components, inventory source of a shipment and other information needed for the declaration isn't always available until after loading or vessel departure. The agriculture industry has lobbied without success to expand so-called Option 4 filing, which the Department of Homeland Security wants to eliminate because of concerns that it is a loophole for illegal exports….