December 2, 2011
FTZ Board Update - OFIS (Annual Report) Tutorials
PLEASE SHARE THIS UPDATE WITH YOUR FTZ OPERATORS, USERS AND OTHERS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FTZ PROGRAM.
As announced earlier this year, the annual report process is changing for the 2011 report with the rollout of the Online
FTZ Information System (OFIS). Beginning with 2011, annual reports will need to be submitted through OFIS. In addition,
the reporting period for the annual report will be the calendar year (January 1 – December 31) and each zone’s report to the
FTZ Board will be due on March 31.
In early October, account log-in information for OFIS was e-mailed to each grantee. If you are a grantee that has not received OFIS
log-in information, or you have any problems accessing the system, please contact Liz Whiteman (202-482-0473, Elizabeth.Whiteman@trade.gov)
or Marsha Foust (202-482-5832, Marsha.Foust@trade.gov).
Each grantee will need to log in to OFIS to request that accounts be created for each of the grantee’s operators. With their own accounts,
operators will be able to submit their reports to the grantee through OFIS. The grantee will be able to review its operators’ data in
OFIS before approving submission of the zone’s report to the FTZ Board.
We now have several tutorials available on the use of OFIS (including on how to submit annual report information). They are currently
accessible through the “What’s New” box on our main page – www.trade.gov/ftz.
The tutorials now available are:
We are also planning several free webinars and training sessions for grantees and operators. When those sessions are scheduled, we will
send out that information in a grantee update and post it on the FTZ Board’s website.
If you have any questions on OFIS or the annual report process, do not hesitate to contact Liz Whiteman or Marsha Foust at the e-mail
addresses or phone numbers listed above.
Andrew McGilvray
Executive Secretary and Staff Director
U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(202) 482-2862
www.trade.gov/ftz