CUSTOMS, AIRLINES MAKE PROGRESS ON AES

CUSTOMS, AIRLINES MAKE PROGRESS ON AES    U.S. Customs and airline representatives from the Air Transport Association held meetings in Washington this week to study ways to bring export air-cargo data into the Automated Export System.
   Customs developed the system several years ago as a way to convert paper submissions of export data into electronic filings. Customs used the data for enforcement purposes, while the Census Bureau uses it to compile the country's trade statistics.
   Unlike the ocean-freight environment, Customs has had a more difficult time convincing the airlines and forwarders to use the system.
   “The America airlines are a skeptical lot,” said Peter J. Baish, director of outbound programs at Customs.” Many of them still have concerns about the problems with Air AMS (Automated Manifest System).”
   European carriers, on the other hand, such as Lufthansa and British Airways, have expressed interest about joining AES.
   Baish said the agency is aware of the airlines' concerns about not having all the shipment data available at the time of flight. “Even if they have only 40 percent of the information up front, it's better than what we have now,” he said.
   The airlines have asked Customs to prepare a concept document of how the proposed Air AES module would work. Customs plans to present that document at the next Air AES meeting.
   Customs and Census say they want to make AES as user friendly as possible to the freight transportation industry.