The Census Bureau's Automated Export System, AESDirect, is experiencing an unscheduled outage, the Bureau said March 24. AESDirect filers can submit shipments under the AES Downtime Policy. State Department licensable shipments cannot be exported under that policy, however, and must be held until the connection is restored and an Internal Transaction Number is received, Census said. AESPcLink users can continue creating and storing shipments in a queue on their local computer for transmission when AESDirect is brought back online.

The Census Bureau has deleted some Port of Export codes in the Automated Export System. The changes are effective immediately, according to an AES broadcast, and all AESPcLink users should update their AES code tables. Users of AESDirect who file via the website will have their code tables updated automatically. The deleted Port of Export codes are:

The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 20-21:

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements added a certain three-thread fleece fabric with soft hand pigment to the list of items not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner under Annex 3.25 of the Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CAFTA-DR). The fabric, which is classified in subheading 6001.21 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, was added in unrestricted quantities. Effective March 25, this three-thread fleece fabric with soft hand pigment may be sourced from outside the DR-CAFTA member countries without affecting eligibility for DR-CAFTA treatment.

The Census Bureau sent out AES Broadcast #2013019 as part of a series of monthly educational broadcast messages on fatal errors in the Automated Export System. This month Census is highlighting AES error codes 077 (Commodity Line Item Missing) and 641 (Quantity 1 Must Be Greater Than Zero). The broadcast covers the reasons for these error messages and how to resolve them, as follows:

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements added a certain piece dyed three-thread fleece fabric to the list of items not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner under Annex 3.25 of the Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CAFTA-DR). The fabric, which is classified in subheading 6001.21 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, was added in unrestricted quantities. Effective March 22, this certain piece dyed three-thread fleece fabric may be sourced from outside the DR-CAFTA member countries without destroying eligibility for DR-CAFTA treatment.

Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank will become chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in July, she said in an email sent to Commerce employees March 18. Blank said she "is not going anywhere in the near future" and said she looks forward to advancing the department's program and policy issues, in her email. Blank took over as acting secretary after John Bryson took a medical leave of absence last June following reports that he suffered a seizure related to three car accidents. President Barack Obama thanked Blank for her service in a statement Monday (here). Obama did not say who he would nominate as her replacement.

The International Trade Administration is hosting a webinar on the realities and benefits of the U.S. trade promotion agreement with Panama. U.S. Ambassador to Panama Jonathan Farrar, as well as representatives from the International Trade Association and Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency will present. The webinar will be held March 20 from 1-2 p.m. ET. Register (here).

The U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS) is planning to lead a trade mission to Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines Sept. 15-21 for exporters in the energy and environmental technologies sectors. The mission will support the “E3 Initiative” announced at the 2012 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (see 12112009), CS said. Mission participants will be able to schedule meetings with Asian Development Bank officials to explore business opportunities. Each mission stop will also include briefings, networking receptions, and one-on-one business meetings with potential customers, partners and local representatives. Applications to participate are due by Aug. 23, with decisions made on a rolling basis after March 12.

The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 14: