September 2003

Memo

From:     FTZ Staff

Re:     Electronic submission of information

In accordance with the Government Paperwork Elimination guidelines, the Foreign-Trade Zones Staff has set out procedures for the electronic submission of information and the possibility of making such information available to the public on the internet. The Foreign-Trade Zones Staff currently has approval from OMB to collect two types of information (applications and annual reports from existing zones). The two collections of information are discussed separately below.

Both the application format and the annual report format are available electronically on our website, as well as guidelines to assist parties in providing the information. The forms and guidelines are also available in a format that can be downloaded.

Applications-
The size of an application makes it impractical to currently provide an option for submission via the internet. However, applicants have the option of reducing the number of paper copies submitted if the application is also sent electronically on compact disc. This provides the applicant with an electronic submission option and reduces the amount of paper required. Applicants sending only hard copies must submit an original and eight copies, whereas an applicant using the electronic submission option may choose to submit up to three of those copies by compact disc. A certain number of paper applications must still be submitted due to the fact that copies are sent to local offices for public reading, as well as to Customs port offices, many of which would be unable to read the electronic submissions, but we expect that with the CD option we can eliminate paper copies in the future.

Annual Reports-
We are offering zones the opportunity to submit their annual report by email. To do this, we would initially require a letter signed by the grantee official indicating that they were authorizing the submission of the annual report by email. Amendments and corrections to the annual report can also be sent by email.

The individual reports are compiled into a singular annual report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board, which is available on our website.

Note: Information submitted to the FTZ Board may be disseminated electronically by the FTZ Board or made available on the FTZ Board website.