Scene: The clock in the hospital room read 1:30 a.m. Dr. AES had been on call since 3 a.m. His patient, Mrs.  Hill had been in labor with twin shipments for the past 37 hours. Her first came rather quickly, but the second had no delivery confirmation. Anticipating another long night, Dr. AES headed for the lounge; when suddenly he was paged back to labor delivery. In no time, Mrs. Hill had delivered her second beautiful shipment. The proud mother of twins was so exhausted and weary that she accidentally named her second shipment the same as her first…

Nurse 1: Mr. & Mrs. Hill I’m going to take Hill 1 to the report nursery and get her cleaned up.

Nurse 2: Shipment Hill 1 is already on file, this action is not allowed.

Narrator: To verify this, Nurse 1 approached the shelf and pulled down her trusty Automated Export System Trade Interface Requirements. She quickly flipped through, looking for Appendix A (Commodity Filing Response Messages).

Nurse 2: Well, what do I do with this other shipment?

Nurse 1: Contact the parents… Mr. & Mrs. Hill, inform them in order to successfully submit this shipment they must alter the name from that of their previous shipment. Shipment names must always be UNIQUE. It’s very hard to keep track of these little guys as is, let alone naming them the same…

Scene: In Mrs. Hill’s room…

Nurse 2: Mrs. Hill, I tried to submit your second shipment to the report nursery but the nurse on call would not accept her. She stated that you already have a “Hill 1” and you must alter the name in some way.

Mr. Hill: My wife has been so busy and this delivery was so exhausting for her, we will call this shipment Hill2 so the name will be unique. That should allow you to make the submission.

Narrator: Tune in next time for “Real Export Emergencies”

The above is a dramatization of a filer trying to use a previously accepted shipment number when attempting to submit a new shipment. When submitting a new shipment, be cautious to always use a unique shipment reference number. If your goal is to replace/edit a shipment, retrieve the shipment and remember to keep the shipment reference number unchanged; changing the shipment reference number will create a new shipment.

If you are unclear why you have received a rejection don’t get frustrated simply seek the proper guidance.

For a list of Fatal Error Responses and how to fix them look to the Commodity Filing Response Messages on the Customs and Border Protection website www.cbp.gov/. Follow the instructions to resolve the error and resubmit the shipment successfully.