OFFICIALS ENCOURAGE AES USE

OFFICIALS ENCOURAGE AES USE    Paper filing of shipper’s export declarations will soon be a thing of the past, as the fall deadline approaches for electronic filing of SEDs, said Gerard Horner, chief of U.S. Census’ Automated Export System branch.
   Horner said electronic filings through AES has rose due to industry cooperation and imminent legislation requiring electronic filings of SEDs. About 80 percent of export data is filed electronically through AES by forwarders and exporters, he said. “Let’s look at the remaining 20 percent, and see what we can do to get them.”

   The use of AES has become more vital as the volumes of SEDs filed has escalated, said Horner, speaking at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America in Hollywood, Fla. The volume of SEDs filed has grown from 200,000 SEDs per month in 1995 to 500,000 per month today.
   Robert Perkins, vice president of trade services for Miles Group Inc., of El Paso, Texas, cited a study by the National Council on International Trade Development showing that it costs forwarders and exporters approximately $18 to file a paper SED. An internal study by Miles Group from last year showed that filing SEDs electronically costs only $1 to $2.
   Besides lower costs, benefits from AES include more accurate data entry, and improved facilitation and compliance, Perkins said.
   “We look at this (AES) as a means for clients to protect themselves,” he said.
   Jerome Greenwell, chief of the education and outreach branch of the Census Bureau, said exporters who use AES now have a better chance of avoiding agency scrutiny, particularly in light of the post-Sept. 11 era. “Customs and a lot of other agencies are taking a closer look at what’s being done in a manual environment,” he said.
   Customs, which culls SED information on behalf of Census, uses the data to target high-risk or illegal exports.