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CBP Pipeline Clarification

The Census Bureau periodically works with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to communicate important information to the trade community. Here is one of a series of posts that provide this information. 

Joint blog post from the Census Bureau’s International Trade Management Division and from U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Recently the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent out a Pipeline Notice to all ports regarding guidance on how penalties will be issued for reporting the incorrect date of export. Below is a copy of the notice sent to the Port of Chicago. The CBP and U.S. Census Bureau received numerous comments about these notices. In response, the Census Bureau has collaborated with CBP to provide the following clarifications.

We received two main comments from the export trade community. The first main comment was that the notice seemed confusing because, based on the title, it appeared to address pipeline export requirements. The CBP issues Pipeline Notices as a means to communicate between the port offices and the trade community. Pipeline Notices are frequently issued to communicate many topics, however, they are not necessarily related to pipeline export requirements discussed in the Foreign Trade Regulations. The second main comment was based on the way the notice was written, because it appeared that corrections could not and should not be made in the Automated Export System (AES). The Foreign Trade Regulations require corrections to be made to the AES record as soon as they are known and this requirement has not changed.

The overall intent of the notice was to offer insight and guidance on how the CBP will be issuing penalties for the incorrect date of export reported in the AES for all ports. A one-to-four-day margin of error is allowed when reporting date of export in the AES versus the actual date of export. However, the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) or authorized agent is responsible for transmitting any changes (corrections, cancellations, or amendments) to the information as soon as they are known.

For example, if you report “Date of Export – 9/5/2015” in the AES and the goods are actually exported on 9/7/2015, the USPPI or authorized agent would not be subject to penalties because it falls within the one-to-four-day window that the CBP allows. However, if the goods are actually exported on 9/10/2015 or afterwards, the shipment is subject to potential CBP penalties if the AES record is not updated. Even if no penalties are issued, it is always the responsibility of the USPPI or authorized agent to update the AES record as soon as they become aware of the actual date of export.

If you have further questions with regards to the CBP Pipeline Notice, please contact Robert Rawls, Chief, Outbound Enforcement and Policy at 202-344-2847.

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Page Last Revised - December 16, 2021
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