Census Launches AES Error Code for New USML Data Element

The Census Bureau Aug. 10 launched a new response code in the Automated Export System to alert filers who try to submit a shipment controlled under U.S. Munitions List Category XXI without a valid determination number. The response code, 5C2, will serve as an “informational” error message for at least 90 days, then become a “fatal” error, according to an Aug. 10 CBP CSMS message, and AES will reject the filing.

The agency introduced the response code to implement a new AES conditional data element, finalized this week, that filers must submit if they are exporting Category XXI exports and defense services that are “not otherwise enumerated” under other USML categories (see 2308090018). If exporters “have doubt as to whether an article” is controlled under the USML, they should submit a commodity jurisdiction determination request through the State Department’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System, the message said. Exporters may also submit an export license application to the agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.