Possible Fines and Prison Time Penalties Effective 02/01/2009

POSSIBLE FINES AND PRISON TIME EFFECTIVE
FEBRUARY 1, 2009 FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING REQUIREMENTS - In June and September, we told you about the Census Bureau change, effective July 2, 2008, requiring mandatory filing of export information through the Automated Export System (AES) or AESDirect [http://www.aesdirect.gov/]. This is for all shipments where a Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) is required. The "adjustment period", delayed from October 1, 2008 to February 1, 2009, ends tomorrow. Starting February 1, 2009, enforcement of the new requirements, including the potential fines and prison time for non-compliance, will start. The fines and prison time are significant - up to $10,000 and 5 years per shipment.

Some history-

If Electronic Export Information (EEI) is required for a U.S. export, the EEI must be electronically filed to the Automated Export System (AES) by the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) (normally this is the exporter) or their designated agent.

There are more rules about when EEI is required than can be covered well here. UPS, FedEx and USPS want different information about EEI, some of the exemption numbers have changed, and there are many other requirements. Contact your carrier(s) so they can advise you about how to comply with this new requirement. The USPPI can file for themselves directly with AESDirect at http://www.aesdirect.gov/. Carriers may offer other filing method options. You will find additional information about this at [http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/].