Bureau of the Census September 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is seeking public comments on its consideration to remove the Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing requirement for shipments between the United States and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For many years, the Census Bureau has received requests, from both the government of Puerto Rico and members of the international trade community, to eliminate the requirement to file EEI for shipments between the United States and Puerto Rico in the Automated Export System. One of the reasons for requesting removal of the filing requirement is that it seems to treat Puerto Rico like a foreign country, when in fact Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and part of the U.S. customs area. Arguments have also been made that the requirement imposes a burden on what should be treated as interstate commerce, discourages manufacturers in the 50 states to ship to Puerto Rico, and impedes economic development on the island. However, removal of the filing requirement could impact the quality and availability of key federal statistics. The Census Bureau is requesting information to assess potential impacts of a regulatory change in the filing requirements and to identify stakeholder priorities for data quality and availability.