The Census Bureau issued March 15 guidance on recent changes to the Automated Export System that accommodate new export controls on cybersecurity items (see 2110200036). AES now includes license code 64 for newly created License Exception Authorized Cybersecurity Exports, which authorizes exports of certain cybersecurity items. The guidance includes information on how to use the new license code and which Export Control Classification Numbers, modes of transportation and Export Information Codes are eligible. The license exception, which the Bureau of Industry and Security announced in October along with new export controls for certain cybersecurity items, took effect March 7 (see 2201110025).

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely March 31, CBP said in a notice. The meeting will be the first for the newest COAC members. Comments are due in writing by March 28.

Exporters who shipped items during the recent Automated Export System outage must file all Electronic Export Information for those shipments to receive an Internal Transaction Number, Census reminded industry in a March 1 email. The unscheduled AES outage occurred Feb. 25 and was resolved Feb. 28.

The Census Bureau Feb. 18 emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System. Response code 515 is a fatal error for when the Export Control Classification Number wasn’t reported in the right format. The ECCN must be reported in a “NANNN format, where N is a numeric character and A is an alpha character,” the agency said. Census said the filer should verify the ECCN, correct the shipment and resubmit.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule reclassifying the Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi), a small, nocturnal mammal native to Southern California, from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The listing includes a 4(d) rule for this species that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit.

All 2022 Harmonized System updates to the Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) (see 2111300033) are available for use in the Automated Export System effective Feb. 10, Census said in an email to industry this week. AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a 30-day grace period beyond Feb. 10, Census said, but outdated codes will result in a fatal error after the 30-day period.

CBP is ending a special bond program for export consolidators at the Miami and Port Everglades ports of entry, it said in a notice. The agency is giving participants in the In-Bond Export Consolidator (IBEC) Program a one-year grace period, until Feb. 11, 2023, to “transition their facility status to either a customs bonded warehouse, container freight station, foreign trade zone, or a facility operated as a non-vessel operating common carrier, depending on their business needs, and also obtain the appropriate bond(s).”

The Census Bureau Jan. 19 emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System. Response code 136 is a fatal error for when a shipment from Puerto Rico to the U.S. doesn’t list a Puerto Rican port under the Port of Export Code. Census said the filer should verify the country of ultimate destination and port of export code, correct the shipment and resubmit.

The Census Bureau will make several changes to the Automated Export System to accommodate the Commerce Department’s new Authorized Cybersecurity Exports (ACE) license exception, Census said in a Jan. 7 email. Among the changes, the agency will add new Export Control Classification Numbers 4A005 and 4D004 and will create new License Code C64 for the ACE exception.

The Census Bureau updated the Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule tables in the Automated Export System to accept changes to the new Jan. 1 codes, the agency said in a Jan. 4 email. Census said AES will accept shipments with “outdated codes” for 30 days beyond their Dec. 31 expiration date, but reporting an outdated code after the grace period will result in a “fatal error.” Census also said it updated the Automated Commercial Environment AESDirect program with the codes, and the program will also accept outdated codes during the grace period. The agency will release a second AES update later this month to add new Schedule B and HTS codes “resulting from international changes” to the 2022 Harmonized System.