In the Trade Term: EEI, I talked about all the different types of acronyms used in the export trade community. Some of you may still be trying to decipher that acronym-heavy sentence.

This leads me to the Trade Term: FTR.

The FTR stands for the Foreign Trade Regulations [PDF], Title 15 Code of Federal Regulations Part 30. It is vitally important that you know your role and responsibility in the export transaction under the authority of the FTR. The FTR sets forth the legislative mandate for reporting your Electronic Export Information (EEI) into the Automated Export System (AES). The FTR includes critical information for all parties involved in the export transaction, such as, but not limited to:

• Definitions of terms – Shipment, Ultimate Consignee, Carnet, Inbond
• Responsibilities of parties in a standard and routed export transaction
• Filing time frames based on the method of transportation from the United States
• Data elements required in the EEI
• Guidance for making corrections in the AES
• Exemptions from filing EEI
• Penalties

It is so important for you to understand what is required of you to export products from the United States, and the FTR provides that guidance to make sure you get it right the first time.

For more information about the FTR, please call 1-800-549-0595, Menu Option #3.