Coming to you live from the Headquarters
of the US Census Bureau: The Foreign Trade Division,
Data Collection Coordination Branch (DCCB) News Report.
Hello, I'm Leroy Brown ..and I'm Renee Sommers.
Our Lead Story today is about Foreign Trade Zones.
Renee, There are a few questions I want
to ask our viewing audience:
Do you know what a Foreign Trade Zone is
and the two types of zones?
What does the government consider Foreign Trade
Zone Admissions?
What are the specific Foreign Trade Zone
Reporting Requirements?
And how can your organization benefit
from filing your Foreign Trade Zone data electronically?
The answers to these questions and more coming up next.
Please stay with us.
Let's begin by defining Foreign Trade Zones:
Foreign Trade Zones are restricted access sites,
in or adjacent to a Customs port of entry, but legally defined
as outside the Customs Territory
of the United States. They are operated by a public
or private corporation, as authorized
by the Foreign Trade Zone Board, and under supervision
of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
There are two types of zones.
They are General Purpose and Subzones:
General Purpose Zones are established
for multiple activities and multiple users.
The zone may consist of one or more multiple sites,
an example of general purpose zones can be a single building,
an industrial park, or an international airport.
Subzones are special purpose sites established
for a limited purpose that cannot be accommodated
within an existing zone.
For example, an automotive company could assemble parts
for a specific type of car in a Subzone.
Allow me to bring some clarity
to the term Foreign Trade Zone Admissions.
Foreign Trade Zone Admissions refer to the physical arrival
of goods into a zone in a specified zone status
with appropriate approvals of the zone grantee
and Customs Border and Protection Agency.
The word "admission" is used in place of the word "entry"
to avoid confusion with Customs
and Border protection entry processes under parts 141-144
of Customs and Border Protection Code of Federal Regulations.
There are specific statistical filing requirements
for Foreign Trade Zone Admissions: Let us walk you
through some of those requirements.
Foreign Trade Zone imports refer
to merchandise exiting the FTZ for US consumption.
All admissions into Foreign Trade Zones must be filed
through Customs and Border Protection electronic 214
program or their paper equivalent Customs
and Border Protection Forms 214 and 214A, the Application
for Foreign Trade Zone Admissions and/or
Status designation.
All fields must be completed to comply with Customs
and the Census Bureaus statistical requirements.
Foreign Trade Zone exports refer
to merchandise exiting the Foreign Trade Zone for shipment
to other countries outside of the United States.
Export information for Census Bureau purposes are collected
via the Automated Export System (AES) or AESDirect.
These are other electronic systems that contribute
to the ease of reporting quality
and timely data to the Census Bureau.
There is an additional reporting requirements that impacts Census
and Customs, that is important as well:
All Customs Forms 214A should be gathered by Customs officers
and transmitted to Census as soon as possible but not later
than ten days after the merchandise has been admitted
to the zone.
Box 14 on the paper form must be marked No when filing paper form
because it notifies Customs Officials know
that the data was not filed electronically; and the form has
to be mailed to Census Puerto Trade Data Staff for keying.
This practice also helps eliminate duplicate reporting.
Let me recap three critical reporting requirements.
When merchandise leaves a Foreign Trade Zone
for U.S. consumption, data must be filed
through Customs Automated Broker Interface
or the paper equivalent Customs Form 7501.
Admitting merchandise
into a Foreign Trade Zone requires filing data using
Customs e214 process or their paper equivalent Customs Forms
214 and 214A.
When merchandise is exported to another country
from a Foreign Trade Zone,
filing your export data is required
through the Automated Export System or AESDirect.
The Census Bureau reports continued growth
in the electronic filing of Foreign Trade Zone data.
Approximately 95% of all Foreign Trade Zone filers are using the
Customs and Border Protection e214 filing process.
We encourage all paper filers
to consider filing their Foreign Trade Zone data electronically.
All you paper filers, come a little closer, get on board.
Join us in the 21st century.
Don't, wait or hesitate, but participate in the e214 process.
The facts are: The growth of Foreign Trade Zones
and electronic filing has resulted in enormous benefits
for the public and private sectors.
The Foreign Trade Zone Board reports approximately 330,000
jobs were created in 2009 throughout the United States
as a result of zone activities.
Additionally, Foreign Trade Zones help facilitate
and expedite international trade.
Data filed electronically benefit The Trade Community
in the following ways: Provides paperless transmission
of Foreign Trade Zone data simultaneously to Customs
and the Census Bureau; Provides cost efficiencies
and helps the environment by eliminating paper;
Provides edits and validates data,
thus increasing reporting accuracy and timeliness
of the data submitted.
US Foreign Trade Zones provide more substantial benefits
for US based manufactures and distributors than many
of the free trade zones located abroad.
In a US zone, merchandise can be: assembled, manipulated,
manufactured, repackaged, and destroyed.
Some of the most attractive benefits to companies are relief
from inverted tariffs, duty exemption on re-exports,
and cash flow savings.
Taking advantage of these electronic filing systems
and benefits will be of great value to your organization.
You may be wondering how you can learn more.
Well, if you need additional information regarding the
Automated Broker Interface/E-214 enrollment process,
please call Customs Border and Protection at (571) 468-5500.
A Customs representative will gladly assist you
in becoming e214 compliant.
For all statistical related questions,
please call the US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division,
Call Center Help Desk at 1-800-549-0595.
A client representative awaits your call to provide you
with good customer service.
Renee, We have a breaking news story, THIS JUST IN!
The Census Bureau reports
that many e214 filers are reporting invalid entries
into the Foreign Trade Zone Identifier field.
This is the field that provides the identity
of the Foreign Trade Zone
from which the merchandise was exported.
This is a five position field consisting
of alphanumeric characters.
The first three positions correspond
to the General Purpose Zone
and the last two positions reflect the Subzone.
We need you to report complete and accurate data
because it is vital to the US Economy.
Finally, to wrap up the news segment today,
We are providing you with references
to help you gather additional information
about Foreign Trade Zones.
That's the Foreign Trade Division, DCCB News for today.
Until Next Time, thanks for joining us.
[MUSIC]