Tips on How to Resolve AES Fatal Errors

When a shipment is filed to the AES, a system response message is generated and indicates whether the shipment has been accepted or rejected.  If the shipment is accepted, the AES filer receives an Internal Transaction Number (ITN) as confirmation.  However, if the shipment is rejected, a Fatal Error notification is received. 

To help you resolve AES Fatal Errors, here are some tips on how to correct the most frequent errors that were generated in AES for this month.

Fatal Error Response Code:  331

Narrative: Ultimate Consignee Country Unknown

Reason: The Ultimate Consignee Country code reported is not valid in AES.

Resolution: The Ultimate Consignee Country code must be a valid ISO Country code found in Appendix C – ISO Country Codes.

Verify Ultimate Consignee Country code, correct the shipment and resubmit.

Fatal Error Response Code:  626

Narrative: 1st UOM Code Missing

Reason: The Schedule B/HTS Number reported requires a Unit of Measure (1)  and Unit of Measure (1) is missing.

Resolution: The Schedule B/HTS Number reported requires the Units for 1st Quantity to be reported.

Verify the Unit of Measure for the 1st Quantity, correct the shipment and resubmit.

For a complete list of Fatal Error Response Codes, their reasons, and resolutions, see Appendix A – Commodity Filing Response Messages.

It is important that AES filers correct Fatal Errors as soon as they are received in order to comply with the Foreign Trade Regulations.  These errors must be corrected prior to export for shipments filed predeparture and as soon as possible for shipments filed postdeparture but not later than five calendar days after departure.

For further information or questions, contact the U.S. Census Bureau’s Data Collection Branch.

Telephone: (800) 549-0595, select option 1 for AES

Email: askaes@census.gov

Online: www.census.gov/trade

Blog: www.census.gov/globalreach