ORLANDO, Fla. -- Exporters who are awaiting the long-delayed rules requiring mandatory use of the Automated Export System for filing export declarations will have to wait longer, according to the head of the Census Bureau’s foreign trade division. “The [regulations] are still not out. The presentation I was hoping to give today, I can’t,” William G. Bostic Jr. told an audience Tuesday at the 34th annual conference of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America. “We said the regulations were imminent, but imminent doesn’t mean immediately.” He assured the audience that the regulations are still pending, but “I don’t know what date, and I don’t know what month” they will be published. Census completed work on the regulations several years ago, but Customs and Border Protection officials withheld their approval. Customs wanted to use export data to exchange with foreign customs administrations as a quid pro quo for import data the agency collected on imported goods. Census and the Department of Commerce have vigorously opposed sharing export data. Doing so would violate the bureau’s mandate to protect the privacy of companies that voluntarily supply data for trade statistics.
After a long impasse, Jerry Greenwell, the foreign trade division’s ombudsman, said in March that his office and Customs were again working to resolve their differences over the regulations. He said that Census’ resolve to protect trade data remained unchanged. An NCBFAA member familiar with the regulations’ status, who spoke on background, said that they are in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel for final review. Once DHS approves the final rules, they should be published shortly afterward.
Bostic said that the regulations will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, with a 120-day implementation period before enforcement begins. Census also is preparing a comprehensive education program in English and Spanish to familiarize exporters with the new rules.
Journal of Commerce
