Census, CBP ?back to the meeting table? on mandatory AES

Census, CBP ôback to the meeting tableö on mandatory AES The U.S. government's Census Bureau and Customs and Border Protection are 'back to the meeting table' in an effort to finalize long awaited rules for mandatory electronic filing of export information, a government official told the Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) on Tuesday.
   'We're still talking,' said Jerry Greenwell, trade ombudsman for the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division, which uses data from the Automated Export System to help calculate the country's trade statistics.
   CBP uses AES data to target illicit exports before they leave the country.
   In late February the Department of Homeland Security and CBP threatened to hold the mandatory AES regulations unless Census changes language in the rulemaking pertaining to post-departure filing of export information. DHS and CBP also demanded the right to share U.S. export information with other governments and federal agencies.
   DHS and CBP want Census to either eliminate post-departure filing in AES, so-called Option 4, or substantially increase the requirements for accepting new companies in the program. They also do not want existing post-departure filers simply to be grandfathered into the mandatory program.
   Many industry groups oppose changes to the initially drafted proposed mandatory AES rules.
   Greenwell told the RPTAC's industry members the new regulation won't be out soon. But once the changes are agreed upon, the agencies will have to reissue the proposed rules with all new deadlines for comments and final implementation.
   He added that the export industry will be given sufficient time to implement the mandatory AES rules.
   'We want to get this done,' Greenwell said. 'But we're not just going to drop it on you and say make it happen.'