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AES Filing

AES filing from the shipper's letter, invoice, order and datasheet, each EEI field cited to its document, each line matched to the exporter's classification record before two people sign.

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The problem

The shipper's letter says EAR99 while the exporter's own record says 2B350.i

The export filer works from the shipper's letter of instruction because it is what arrives with the truck booking. Its classification often comes from the exporter's item master, which can print the base model's number while the exporter's own classification record covers the option actually on the truck. Invoice lines missing from the letter are easy to miss, and the record and the datasheet that could contradict it sit in other inboxes.

The truck leaves at dawn, the cut-off is an hour before the bridge, and the person who can confirm the classification works at the exporter. What goes wrong is a filing that misstates an export control fact, a line AES rejects, and earlier filings of the same model nobody has looked at again.

Built forExport filersExport supervisorsExport compliance officersCustoms brokers

The Problem Today

The EEI copies the shipper's letter, while the record and datasheet that could contradict it wait in other inboxes.

1 hour
before a truck reaches the border, the EEI is due published
$2,500
per Schedule B number, above which an EEI is required published

Keyed from paper before the truck

  • SLI
  • Invoice
  • Datasheet
  • Email
  • Spare parts left off the letterAn invoice line the SLI skips never reaches AES
  • The decider works elsewhereThe exporter's officer hears of the question late

The Solution

  1. Each field citedLetter, invoice, order and datasheet read; each EEI field cites its page
  2. Matched to the recordEach shipped line tested against the exporter's classification record
  3. Read as an examiner wouldThe challenger caught mistakes the agents made themselves
  4. The exporter decidesThe officer confirms the match; filer and supervisor sign before AES

Built-in controls

  • The exporter's officer confirms each classification
  • Engineering and buyer notes reach a named person
  • The preparer never checks their own EEI

What You Get

Brokers file what the goods on the truck really are, with each field cited to the document it came from.

24 hours
before a vessel loads: the EEI deadline for ocean exports published
  • Missing lines foundSpare parts on the invoice filed under a valid number
  • Agents' draft challengedConsignee and code errors caught before anyone signed
  • Records become intake rulesApplied only after the vice president approves
Features

AES filing features, from the shipper's letter to the filing in AES

The export filer, the supervisor and the exporter's compliance officer work one truckload of pumps for a chemical plant in Mexico through them.

demoThe brokerage, exporter, buyer, people, shipment and figures here are sample data.

  1. 01EEI draft

    EEI drafted field by field from the SLI, invoice, order and datasheet

    • Each EEI field with its source. USPPI, ultimate consignee, Schedule B, value, port and carrier each open the document they came from, so the filer checks the draft against paper.
    • Value at the port of export. Freight beyond the border is taken out of the EEI value, as the invoice's own lines show, in place of the invoice total.
    • The truck's cut-off on every screen. The clock counts to one hour before the border appointment, so the filer sees how much time is left for the officer's check.
  2. 02Steer

    Invoice lines missing from the shipper's letter added to the filing mid-run

    • Invoice lines kept when the letter skips them. Spare parts that appear only on the invoice are listed and asked about, so a line is not dropped on its way to AES.
    • A typed instruction grows the plan. The filer adds a line or earlier shipments to the agents' work in plain words, and the added step carries their name and the time.
    • The relay of agents above the tree. The filer sees which documents each agent read and where it passed the work, so any step can be checked.
  3. 03Classification tree

    Export classification matched to the exporter's record as a decision tree

    • One node per test the record sets. Seal-less design, maximum flow and wetted-part alloy each show the document passage beside the record or rule text it tests.
    • A match, stated as not a decision. The tree says the shipped line fits the record; the exporter, who owns the classification, confirms it.
    • The license question laid out for the officer. Reasons for control, the country group and the country chart cells sit under the match, each cited, for the person who answers.
  4. 04Examiner's read

    EEI challenged as an export examiner would, the agents' own draft included

    • Each point with the question an examiner asks. Weak spots surface while the filing can still change, each marked for a person, closed on a cited document, or waiting on an outside answer.
    • Ultimate consignee tested against the order. A border customs agent that takes no possession is caught before it stands on the EEI as the party abroad that receives the goods.
    • Routed export and value questions asked. Who authorized the agent, and whether the terms make it a routed transaction, are answered from the letter and the invoice.
  5. 05Schedule B check

    Schedule B number and unit checked against the current schedule before AES

    • Schedule B read against this year's schedule. A number copied from an old product list that no longer exists is caught before AES rejects the filing.
    • Unit of quantity set from the schedule. Each line carries the unit the schedule names for its number, so the quantity reported matches what AES expects for that line.
    • What the agents took, under its source. The fix to line 2 sits beside the schedule entry it rests on, ready to check.
  6. 06Engineering request

    Material and flow questions answered by engineering in fixed fields

    • Questions asked as fields, not email. Alloy, nickel and chromium, maximum flow, seal design, bearings and gasket come back comparable, with the test certificate attached.
    • Answers flow into the tree. The record's tests re-run on engineering's values, so the match rests on the shipped serials' certificate.
    • Comments read by a person. A note from engineering is kept out of the comparison and shown to the filer verbatim.
  7. 07Officer's check

    The exporter's compliance officer confirms the match and the license answer

    • Confirm disabled until the three documents are opened. The officer reads the test certificate, the record and the reissued invoice before the check can be signed.
    • Each line and the license answered apart. Match or does not match per line, license required or not for the destination, so a hold is a clear choice.
    • The signature's meaning spelled out. The officer sees that signing also confirms the Schedule B numbers shown and releases the reissued invoice.
  8. 08Preparer

    Filer signs the EEI as preparer, with what was compared field by field

    • Conditions listed before the EEI can be filed. Officer's check, certificate, end-use statement, notes read, examiner points and screening each show done or open.
    • A reason in the filer's own words. The record says what was compared, so the supervisor and an auditor read the filer's check rather than a tick.
    • The buyer's comment carried to the supervisor. Free text from the buyer is shown verbatim and waits for the second person to read it.
  9. 09Filed

    Supervisor's second check, the last step before the EEI is filed in AES

    • Five steps in order, each with its person. Exporter's check, preparation, second check, filing and the carrier hand-off read as one chain for the file and for an auditor.
    • Filing only after two people at the brokerage. The supervisor files in AES once the officer's check and the preparer's signature are on the EEI and the buyer's comment is read.
    • Hold or reopen up to the filing. The supervisor can still hold the EEI or send it back to the filer until the moment it is filed in AES.

Who prepares, checks and confirms each EEI filing

The brokerage files; the exporter owns the classification and the license answer.

Export filers

Prepare each EEI from the export documents and sign it as preparer

  • Each field cited to its page
  • Invoice lines the letter missed, listed
  • Questions to engineering and the buyer in fields
Export supervisors

Open and check each EEI, file it in AES and send corrections

  • The filing and outside comments opened before signing
  • The proof of filing passed to the carrier for the border
  • Corrections prepared by the filer to send
Export compliance officers

Confirm each line's classification and the license answer for the exporter

  • The tree beside the record it tests
  • Certificate, record and invoice in one view
  • A match to confirm, never a classification made for them
Vice presidents of export services

Approve intake rules, settings and client terms at the brokerage

  • Rules proposed from records and examiner points
  • Nothing applied until they approve
  • Every approval logged with its reason

An EAR99 letter, a border agent as consignee and a code AES would reject

What the shipper's letter and the agents' first draft carried, and where each was caught.

EAR99 on the letter, 2B350.i in the record

The SLI copied the base model's EAR99. Record CLS-2610-0388 covers the C-276 option on the truck; the officer confirmed both lines match it.

The import customs agent as ultimate consignee

The agents' own draft named the agent at the border crossing. The plant in Monterrey receives and uses the pumps, so it is the ultimate consignee, as a direct consumer.

A Schedule B number that is not in the schedule

Line 2 carried 8413.91.9099 and 2 NO from the client's list. The draft was fixed to 8413.91.9520, 30 kg, before anyone signed.

Two spare impellers missing from the letter

Invoice line 2, $8,300.00, was not on the SLI. It was kept on the EEI and matched to the same record.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

More screens

The export queue, the documents read and three ways to meet the truck

The rest of the desk around this EEI, before and after it was filed.

Export queueThe filer's 10 filings due in 24 hours by cut-off, with mode, port, value, ECCN and status; one is flagged for a control-list check.
What the agents took from the invoiceThe commercial invoice as it arrived, with what was taken from it: two goods lines, freight beyond Laredo left out of value, and EAR99 printed with no destination control statement.
The buyer's end-use statementThe buyer fills each field and types its own signer's name. Its comment about a second plant goes to a person word for word.
Three ways to meet the truckFile as the letter says, hold and cross Monday at $750.00 of layover, or file with the officer's check by 16:30. The planner never picks; no penalty figure is shown.
What the officer opensTest certificate, classification record and reissued invoice in one view, with the alloy, nickel share and serials marked.
Rules learnedTwo classification records for the nickel-alloy options become rule R-14, which does nothing until the vice president approves it.
Audit trailEach entry from the agents' re-check at 15:05 to the supervisor's second check at 16:59 carries its reason and what the signature meant.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Eight records behind each EEI field and classification match

Each is cited where it is used; an outside answer counts only through its fields and attached files.

Shipper's letter of instructionParties, the letter's lines and its classification, read as a claim to test.
Commercial invoice and orderLines, unit prices, terms and freight, for value at the port of export.
Packing listCrates, weights and serials, for quantity and the serials the certificate covers.
DatasheetDesign, materials and the published flow curve behind each test in the tree.
The exporter's classification registerThe record each shipped line is matched against, with its ECCN and its date.
Engineering's answer and test certificateAlloy, nickel and chromium, maximum flow and the certificate for the shipped serials.
The buyer's end-use statementEnd user, end use, the chemical weapons certification and re-export, signed by the buyer.
Schedule B and party screeningThis year's Schedule B for each line, and both foreign parties screened at drafting and again at filing.

What export brokers ask about AES filing and the EEI

What is AES filing?

AES filing is submitting electronic export information, the EEI, to AES before goods leave the United States: who sells and receives, the Schedule B number, the value, the export classification and the license code. Here agents build the EEI from the export documents, the exporter confirms the classification, and two people at the brokerage sign before it is filed.

What are the EEI filing requirements for a truck to Mexico?

The export filing rules set the deadline at one hour before the truck reaches the border, against a day before loading for a vessel and two hours before departure for a flight. The EEI carries the ultimate consignee who receives the goods abroad, the value at the port of export and, on a no-license filing, the ECCN for an item controlled for more than anti-terrorism.

Who is responsible for the ECCN on the EEI?

The exporter. The broker or forwarder may file as its authorized agent, but the classification is the exporter's to give, even in a routed transaction. Here the agents only match the shipped line to the exporter's classification record, and its export compliance officer confirms it.

What happens when a Schedule B number is not valid?

AES rejects the filing. The challenger reads each Schedule B against the current schedule and its unit of quantity before anyone signs, so a number copied from an old product list is replaced before the filing goes out.

Can a filed EEI be corrected?

Yes. The regulations ask for a correction as soon as the correct information is known. The filer prepares it and the supervisor sends it. Whether anything more is owed to an agency is the exporter's decision with its counsel, and the brokerage gives no view.

Does it replace our filing software?

No. Filing still goes through AES in ACE. This sits in front of it: reading the export documents, matching the classification, asking engineering and the buyer, and holding the two signatures.

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Bring an EEI you filed
from a shipper's letter.

We will rebuild it from the invoice, the datasheet and the exporter's record, and show where they disagree.

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