February 7, 2012

FTZ Board Update - TRAINING VIDEOS for Annual Report System

PLEASE SHARE THIS UPDATE WITH YOUR FTZ OPERATORS, USERS AND OTHERS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FTZ PROGRAM.

As we have mentioned in earlier updates, the annual report process has changed for the 2011 report with the rollout of the Online FTZ Information System (OFIS). All 2011 annual reports will be submitted through OFIS.

We now have a number of training videos available on the use of OFIS to supplement the PDF tutorials already available on our website. The videos are currently accessible through the “What’s New” box on our main webpage – www.trade.gov/ftz.

The training videos now available are:

• Grantees - How to Log In to OFIS and Change Your Password (2:04 minutes)
• Grantees - How to Request an OFIS Account for an Operator (3:20 minutes)
• Grantees - How to Update Your Contact Information and Site Status Information (2:33 minutes)
• Grantees - How to Review and Finalize an Operator's Report in OFIS (4:08 minutes)

• Operators - How to Log In to OFIS and Update Your Information (3:07 minutes)
• Warehouse/Distribution Operators - How to Create and Submit Your Annual Report to the Grantee (7:37 minutes)
• Oil Refinery Operators - How to Create and Submit Your Annual Report to the Grantee (9:31 minutes)

Coming soon (after delays due to technical issues), we will also have training videos for 1) manufacturing operators on how to create and submit their annual report to the grantee and 2) grantees on how to finalize and submit the annual report to the FTZ Board. Until then, manufacturers and grantees can continue to rely on the existing PDF tutorials. Also, manufacturing operators can use the training video for oil refinery operators to understand how the system works, recognizing that some of the questions shown in the video will be different than their actual report.

As a reminder, the reporting period for the annual report is now the calendar year (January 1 – December 31). Each grantee’s report to the FTZ Board will be due on March 31, with each grantee free to develop its own internal deadline for its operators to submit their reports to the grantee.

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.

For any questions you may have, do not hesitate to contact Liz or Marsha via their contact information above.

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