U.S. CENSUS, EXPORT ADMINISTRATION PROPOSE NEW EXPORTER DEFINITION

   The U.S. Census Bureau and Export Administration jointly announced their
proposed definitions of exporter.
   Census says its purpose for tightening the definition of exporter is to
improve the quality of trade data collected from shippers export
declarations. The Export Administration uses the data to enforce Commerce’s
export control regulations.
   When Census announced that it was amending its definition of exporter
last year, industry complaints caused the agency, along with the Export
Administration, to take another look.
   The contention between the agencies and industry was over identifying
the exporter in "routed export" transactions. Under the new proposed rules,
the exporter or seller of cargo will be defined as the "U.S. principal
party in interest." This entity will provide the agencies with all the
necessary shipment information.
   The forwarder must provide the transportation data. The forwarder may
fill out the entire export declaration if it has written permission from
the exporter.
   "These definitions were carefully crafted so that the applicant,
licensee and exporter are always the same person," said Lori Whitaker,
senior attorney of the Export Administration’s Office of Chief Counsel.
   Both agencies’ proposed rules are expected to be published together in
the Federal Register within the next two weeks. If the new rules are
accepted by industry, they could be implemented as early as September.