Shipper's Export Declaration (SED) in shipping goods from the USA abroad

SED is the acronym for U.S. Shipper's Export Declarations.

According to U.S. Customs regulations, all cargo transported out of the USA must be declared to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on the ACE Secure Data Portal.

To comply with these U.S. Government export regulations, all international cargo transportation companies serving U.S. freight enforce the condition on all cargo shipping from the USA: "NO DOCS - NO LOAD." That means the presentation of all necessary shipping documentation for any cargo shipping from the USA, including proof of submission of the U.S. Shipper's Export Declaration, which is ITN or AES Exemption Legend, must be provided by shippers no later than 72 hours before cargo releases to depart from the USA.

Cargo without a valid ITN (if not exempt) CANNOT be released for transportation from the USA and is subject to the hold under the U.S. Customs supervision and penalties related to the lack of proper export documentation.

ITN is the acronym for Internal Transaction Number. An ITN is a number assigned to a shipment confirming that the ACE accepted the Electronic Export Information (EEI) and has it on file.

Most common exemptions from filing the Shipper's Export Declaration

• Shipping from the USA goods of total value declared less than US$2500.
• U.S. domestic shipments (shipping to Hawaii, for example). However, ITN required shipping freight between the USA and Puerto Rico and between the USA and the Virgin Islands of the United States.

How do you file a Shipper's Export Declaration?

Our online freight calculator provides options for filing a U.S. Shipper's Export Declaration:

1. Shippers may file SED online at https://ace.cbp.dhs.gov on their own. In this case, we must get a valid ITN from the shipper before the cargo is delivered to the ocean freight carrier's terminal (CFS) for overseas shipping from the United States.
2. Otherwise, we may file SED on the shipper's behalf based on the commodity description provided in the shipper's commercial invoice or valued packing list for the fee of $35 toward a single Harmonized Tariff Number. $25.00 per Harmonized Tariff number after that.

If you are requesting us to file SED on your behalf, then to do so, we must have from you at least:

1. A valued packing list or commercial invoice for your shipping from the USA, which contains commodity description (1), the value of your international shipment in USD (2), and estimated weight (3).
2. For U.S. citizens, a U.S. federal tax ID (EIN) and, for non-U.S. citizens, a copy of the consigner's (shipper's) foreign passport's first page with a straightforward reading of the passport number on it.

Obtaining an EIN for filing the Shipper's Export Declaration

IMPORTANT NOTE FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: As of December 3, 2009, U.S. Social Security Numbers (SSN) will not be accepted as valid USPPI ID:

According to the U.S. Census Bureau / U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulation and per the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), Social Security Numbers (SSN) will not be accepted as a valid USPPI ID as of December 3, 2009. Any Authorized Agent that files on behalf of customers using an SSN as the USPPI ID needs to notify their customers that they need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). USPPIs can obtain an EIN by visiting www.irs.gov and selecting "Employer ID Numbers (EIN)."

U.S. citizens who do not have an EIN may obtain an EIN for their international cargo transportation needs online at irs.gov by requesting an EIN for Sole Proprietors to satisfy banking requirements or local law. You may consider obtaining an EIN by following the steps in this PDF file.

For more information, refer to a copy of U.S. Federal Code 15 CFR Part 30 in this link.