Census Issues AES Notification Regarding Shipments to International Waters

The Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division last week issued a notice (pdf) clarifying the Foreign Trade Regulations' requirement for the filing of Electronic Export Information (EEI) through the Automated Export System (AES) for shipments to international waters.

The notice states that the shipments to international waters must be reported via AES when (a) the commodity is valued at over $2,500 per Schedule B number; or (b) if a shipment is licensed by the Bureau of Industry and Security, regardless of value.

In order to permit the reporting of such shipments, Census has modified AES by adding a new Export Information Code known as "IW". AES filers who report "IW" are required to report either license code C30 (General License) or C31 (Special Comprehensive License), a valid BIS license number and the Export Control Classification Number corresponding to the license must be reported when applicable.

A common example of the use of "IW" is the export of a controlled item to an offshore oil platform located in international waters.