US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has stepped up its issuance of penalties for Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing errors in recent months. In a webinar given this past June (“CBP Outbound Issues Webinar”), CBP noted that in the first six months of 2010, over 1300 penalties were imposed for AES violations. The most common EEI errors identified by CBP include: wrong port of export; incorrect date of departure, incorrect consignee; incorrect values on export merchandise; no or incorrect carrier identification; incorrect Schedule B Number; and, failure to amend the AES record when changes became known to the filer.
Census delegated authority to enforce and impose penalties for violations of the Foreign Trade Regulations to CBP. On January 2, 2009, CBP published its guidelines for the calculation of penalties for AES errors. It is important to note that CBP penalties may be assessed against any and all culpable parties (e.g., USPPI, FPPI, forwarding agent, customs broker and/or carrier). The maximum penalty for violations of the electronic export filing regulations is $10,000, or $1,100 per day in the case of late filings. The CBP guidelines also describe the various mitigating and aggravating factors that can impact these penalty amounts.
In today’s challenging economic times, you need to ensure that every penny is wisely spent, and penalties paid for inadvertent AES errors are just money wasted. If you are an exporter or forwarder, it is crucial to take the time to ensure that your AES filings are timely made and correct. Our “SMART Review” process can help. The SMART® Review is an innovative and interactive alternative to the typically burdensome, pricey, third-party export compliance audits. In conducting the SMART® Review, our team of professionals use electronic trade data sources and STR/STTAS’ advanced automated systems and analysis capabilities to provide exporters and forwarders with a cost-effective way to identify AES errors, assess their export compliance status, take corrective action if warranted, and enhance their internal control programs. For more information, contact Melissa Proctor at mproctor@strtrade.com or Anu Gavini at agavini@strtrade.com for assistance.
