Did you know in addition to Foreign Trade Zones having a general purpose zone and a sub zone, that some zones also have a site location?  Previously only importers were required to report the site identification number as part of the FTZ identifier.  Effective April 5, 2014, exporters will now also be required to report site locations using the full seven digit reporting format in the Automated Export System.

When exporters report in-bond code 67 (withdrawn for immediate export), or in-bond code 68 (withdrawn for transportation & exportation), you are required to provide a FTZ identifier.  Failure to report will generate a fatal error response message.  The new FTZ identifier format is shown below.

When exporting merchandise from a FTZ, use the following examples below to ensure accurate reporting:

• If FTZ 128 does not have a subzone or site location, the correct format would be 1280000.
• If FTZ 128 does not have a subzone but a site location of 02, the correct format would be 1280002.
• If FTZ 128 has a subzone of D but does not have a site location, the correct format would be 1280D00.
• If FTZ 128 has a subzone D and a site of 02, the correct format would be 1280D02. AESDirect will be updated to comply with the new regulations.  If you use another software, make sure the software is updated by April 5, 2014 so that it allows you to report the required seven-digit format.

If you have questions regarding FTZs, contact the Data Analytics Branch,  Economic Indicators Division at 301-763-2207.  In addition, you can visit the following websites for more information U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board and National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones.