FTR Letters

FTR Letter No. 6 (revised)

The U.S. Census Bureau issued the final rule implementing modifications to Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 30, Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR). The rule was published on March 14, 2013 and will become effective on January 8, 2014. We provided the trade 300 days from the date of publication to implement the new requirements.

One of the regulatory changes addressed in the final rule was the revision to the split shipment requirement (FTR Section 30.28). The changed clarified that split shipments apply to all modes of transportation and that all parts of a shipment must leave within 24 hours from the same port. Since the publication of the final rule, the Census Bureau received feedback from the trade that the new 24 hour requirement cannot be implemented by air, air express, rail, or truck carriers without considerable IT and process investments. Therefore, the trade community believes that this requirement would impose an undue burden and add significant cost to their operations. Since receiving this feedback the Census Bureau and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have met with the trade to develop an agreeable resolution for addressing split shipments.

As a result of our collaborative efforts with the trade, the Census Bureau and CBP have revised the split shipments requirement to read as follows:

A shipment covered by a single EEI transmission booked for export on one conveyance, but divided prior to export where the exporting carrier at the port of export will file the manifest indicating that the cargo was sent on two or more of the same conveyances leaving from the same port of export of the same carrier within 24 hours by vessel or 7 days by air, truck, or rail. For the succeeding parts of the shipment that are not exported within time frame specified above, a new EEI must be filed and amendments must be made to the original AES record.

This revision is effective immediately. The Census Bureau and CBP are instructing filers to make every effort to adhere to the change in the split shipment requirements. During the remainder of the 300 day implementation phase, the Census Bureau will conduct outreach activities, and the CBP will use "informed compliance" for filers identified in violation of the revised sections of the FTR.

Please call 1-800-549-0595 with any questions you may have regarding the FTR or the Automated Export System (AES). We encourage you to attend, "The AES Compliance Seminars," or the "AESPcLink Certification Workshops" offered in various cities in the United States. To find out more about theses conferences and workshops visit our website at www.census.gov/trade