CENSUS PLANS TO CONTINUE PHASE-OUT OF AES FILING OPTION 3

CENSUS PLANS TO CONTINUE PHASE-OUT OF AES FILING OPTION 3    The U.S. Census Bureau plans to continue with its phase-out of a filing option in the government’s Automated Export System that allows shippers to file minimal shipment data prior to export, followed five days later with complete information.
   Census officials said the filing option, known as AES Option 3, has been underused by the export industry during the past several years. Option 3 filers have also repeatedly failed the agency’s compliance tests.
   “It’s simply not cost effective for Census to continue,” said Charles Woods, assistant chief of the agency’s Foreign Trade Division.
   Companies that use Option 3 will have to shift to AES filing Option 2, which requires all shipment data filed electronically in AES or the Internet version, AESDirect, prior to export, or AES Option 4, which allows certain approved exporters to file their data electronically 10-days post-departure.
   Option 4, however, may also be terminated when mandatory pre-export AES filing takes effect as early as mid-2004.