The Census Bureau said recently that over the last several months it has seen an increase in inquiries from foreign governments for copies of the electronic export information. Census has also received inquiries from the trade about specific countries requiring EEI-related documentation, such as the internal transaction number.
Census is therefore reminding the trade community that the information contained in the EEI is confidential under U.S. law and that under the Foreign Trade Regulations the EEI may not be provided to a foreign government for any purpose.
It is acceptable to provide the ITN to a foreign government in place of the EEI, Census states. If a shipment was excluded or exempted from EEI filing requirements, the citation that was used in place of the ITN (i.e., post-departure filing citation, AES downtime filing citation, and exemption or exclusion) can be provided. Documents that do not have confidentiality restrictions, such as an invoice or commercial loading document, can also be provided to the foreign government for shipment verification to occur.
Finally, Census states, companies can provide foreign entities or governments with this official notice.
Copyright © 2025 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.