October 27­, 2022

Disclosure of Electronic Export Information (EEI) to Foreign Entities and Foreign Governments is not Permitted

Over the last several months, the U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) has seen an increase in inquiries from foreign governments for copies of the Electronic Export Information (EEI).  The Census Bureau has also received inquiries from the trade about specific countries requiring EEI-related documentation, such as the Internal Transaction Number (ITN). 

The information contained in the EEI is confidential, pursuant to U.S. law (13 U.S.C. §301(g)). The specific confidentiality provisions on the release of the EEI is contained in the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 30.60.  As stated in Section 30.60(c)(4) of the FTR, you may not provide the EEI to a foreign government for any purpose.

The EEI filing is required to satisfy U.S. regulatory requirements, not the needs of foreign governments.  In place of providing the EEI to the foreign government, it is acceptable to provide the ITN since it is not considered a data element as defined in Section 30.6 of the FTR.  However, if your shipment did not require EEI filing, because the shipment was excluded or exempted from filing requirements, then the citation that was used in place of the ITN can be provided (i.e., postdeparture filing citation, AES downtime filing citation, and exemption or exclusion).   Additionally, documents that do not have confidentiality restrictions, such as an invoice or commercial loading document, can be provided to the foreign government for the shipment verification to occur.  Lastly, you can also provide the official response from the Census Bureau on letterhead indicating that EEI cannot be provided to foreign entities or governments under U.S. law, which is available at the bottom of this broadcast.

If you have any questions about the EEI or confidentiality requirements surrounding the EEI, please contact the Trade Regulations Branch at      1-800-549-0595, Option 3 or email emd.askregs@census.gov.

Additional Resources:

• The official letter addressing requests for export documentation by foreign entities and governments can be found here.
• The Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) can be found here.

About the Census Bureau

We serve as the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. The Census Bureau is the federal government's largest statistical agency. As the world’s premier statistical agency, we are dedicated to making our nation a better place. Policy-makers, businesses, and the public use our data to make informed decisions.