U.S. CUSTOMS, NVOs MAKE PROGRESS WITH AES

U.S. CUSTOMS, NVOs MAKE PROGRESS WITH AES    U.S. Customs said it’s making progress to integrate the non-vessel-operating common carrier transportation data into the Automated Export System.
   Last week, the agency held a meeting in the Port of Newark, N.J., with key leaders of the NVO industry to review what’s needed to shift freight consolidation data from paper to an automated format.
   AES was developed by Customs and the Census Bureau several years ago as a way to collect export commodity and transportation data. Customs uses the data to target high-risk shipments, while Census compiles it for the country’s trade statistics.
   Customs began meeting with the NVOs last year to discuss the industry’s use of AES. “The industry is really responding to us,” said Peter J. Baish, director of outbound programs at Customs. “This cooperative approach helps to serve their needs as well as ours.”
   The agency hopes to have similar success with the NVOs that it recently had with the ocean carriers to create the vessel transportation module in AES.
   “We see this thing dovetailing into the vessel transportation module,” said Dean Groseclose, program officer for Customs outbound division. “It appears that everything is falling into place.”