Industry groups continue protest of changes to AES mandatory rules

Industry groups continue protest of changes to AES mandatory rules    Two large shipping industry groups warned the U.S. Commerce and Agriculture departments that last-minute changes to the rules for mandatory electronic filing of export information will have a “chilling effect” on U.S. exports.
   In late February, the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection threatened to hold the regulations unless the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau 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 the Automated Export System, so-called Option 4, or substantially increase the requirements for accepting new companies in the program. DHS and CBP also do not want existing post-departure filers simply grandfathered into the mandatory program.
   “DHS’s proposed changes subject exporters to potential delays, cargo damage and lost export sales,” said Kathryn Beaubien, regulatory director for the Agriculture Ocean Transportation Coalition, in an April 3 letter to Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. “It would expose reputable exporters to severe financial penalties for unintentional and clerical documentation errors.”
   Beaubien explained that Option 4 is “essential due to the uncertainty of the precise weight/measure of agriculture cargo until a ship is loaded and sails.
   “Many exporters of perishable and bulk agriculture cargoes, and scrap metal and paper, simply cannot know the accurate weights and numbers until the cargo is actually stowed on the ship,” she said.
   The Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association expressed similar concerns about changes to Option 4. “DHS’s proposed restrictions on Option 4 reflect a lack of familiarity with the export process, by demanding information in advance of shipment, some of which often cannot be provided,” said Maggie Smith-Ranney, president of the PCC, in a letter to Gutierrez.
   Both groups also protested sharing of export information with foreign governments.
   “This is absolutely contrary to the interests of U.S. export competitiveness,” Smith-Ranney said. “It is unprecedented. It would require an Act of Congress to change a policy that has been in place since the founding of our country — the confidential treatment of proprietary export data.”
   Both groups praised the Census Bureau for its outreach and education to the shipper and forwarder industries during the drafting of the mandatory AES filing rules.
   “The Census Bureau has approached its task of strengthening AES with an open mind to understanding the impact of its proposals,” Smith-Ranney said.
   For more details about the possible changes to the mandatory AES filing rules, read the April American Shipper, pages 28-30.