October 28, 2013

Preparation for the 2013 FTZ Annual Report

You are receiving this email because you are listed as the contact for an operator or grantee of a foreign-trade zone (FTZ). As you probably know, you will soon need to prepare your FTZ annual report for calendar year 2013. Each operator's report to its zone's grantee is due by the deadline set by the grantee (with the grantee then submitting its report to the FTZ Board by March 31).

As a reminder, all reports must be submitted through the Online FTZ Information System (OFIS) which is accessible through the FTZ Board's website - www.trade.gov/ftz. Training videos and tutorials on the use of OFIS are also available under the "Tutorial" link at the top of the page in OFIS.

For both operators and grantees, we want to flag the “Total Value of Shipments” question towards the end of the report. This question requests different numbers than the ones reported in the “Movement of Merchandise” section (which precedes the Total Value of Shipments question). The Movement of Merchandise section should only include the value of merchandise that moves through the activated zone space. However, the Total Value of Shipments includes both the value of the merchandise PLUS any value added in the zone. Value added includes any labor, overhead or profit associated with the zone activity. If you have a sales value for merchandise leaving the zone, that number can be used in the Total Value of Shipments section (but NOT in the Movement of Merchandise section).

The Total Value section is used to more accurately reflect the true value of your zone activity. Unless there was no value added (no labor or overhead) in the zone, the numbers in the Total Value of Shipments section should NOT equal the numbers in the Movement of Merchandise section.

To supplement the training videos and tutorials in OFIS, we also will schedule free webinars closer to the end of the calendar year and submission date. Details on those webinars will be sent out when available.

If you have problems accessing your account or preparing the report, please contact Liz Whiteman (202-482-0473, Elizabeth.Whiteman@trade.gov) or Marsha Foust (202-482-2862, Marsha.Foust@trade.gov).

Andrew McGilvray
Executive Secretary and Staff Director
U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(202) 482-2862
www.trade.gov/ftz