Jan-14-2000

What to do during AES Processing Delays

The AES system at U.S. Customs has been experiencing some performance degradation recently. Email responses to your transmissions through AESDirect have not been as timely as expected. U.S. Customs assures us that this performance degradation will be resolved soon. However, during this time, the U.S. Customs downtime policy is in effect. The full text of this policy can be found on the Customs web site at www.customs.treas.gov

In effect, once you submit your shipment information to AESDirect and AESDirect accepts it, you are guaranteed that it has been submitted to the AES system at U.S. Customs and an email response with your ITN will be forthcoming. Do not wait for this response to move your cargo. U.S. Customs officials in the ports are aware of this situation and will not delay cargo unnecessarily due to the data not being available in AES.

Questions may be addressed to the AES Branch at the Census Bureau on 301-457-3539.