U.S. Steel Licensing Website to Undergo Significant Revisions

Issue 17, February 3, 2009

Importers who obtain steel licenses from the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) for their importations into the USA need to be aware that the ITA steel licensing website will undergo significant changes and revisions that will affect the import license application process. On March 2, 2009 at 9:00 EST, the steel licensing website will switch over to a new web design with new license registration procedures. These new procedures will affect how users apply for steel licenses.

The following are the important changes that will occur:

• New User IDs: All users will be required to re-register for a new User ID, which will be tied to your individual e-mail address. Your new User ID will be needed to log in to the system and apply for licenses.
• Password: Passwords will now be required to log on to the system to access your account and to apply for licenses. You will receive your password when you register for a user ID.
• License Number Change: In the new system, you will notice that license numbers will include both numbers and letters. An example will be 7N5Rxxxxx.
• Template Changes: New abilities to name, modify, and delete templates. All templates will need to be recreated.
• Electronic Data Interchange: A new option for large volume users to submit data in bulk.

Registration for new user ID’s and passwords in the new system began on Monday, February 2, 2009, and will be available for the month prior to the launch of the new system. When you apply for your user ID, you will receive an e-mail confirming your registration and providing your password. The link to the registration page is: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/steel/license/index.html

The ITA also advises that “once the new system is activated, users will no longer have access to licenses created prior to the launch date. If you need to correct or cancel a license created prior to the March 2, 2009 launch date, you must contact the SIMA Team via e-mail at steel_license@ita.doc.gov. In the subject line, input “License Update – Previous System”, and include the license number and corrections to be made. If you need to cancel the license, you will need to include the license number and as to cancel it.”

If you have previously created templates, they will no longer be available when the system is switched over. The new templates system will make it easier to remember which templates you use by allowing them to be named. Names may be entered specific to products, shipments, customers, etc. The new system will also allow templates to be updated and deleted. If you currently have multiple templates in the steel licensing system, you are encouraged to print out copies of the information in order to make recreating them in the new system easier.

Users with large daily volumes of license applications will now have the option to enter data into one spreadsheet for instant upload to the steel licensing system. This option will reduce the amount of time used to fill out the large volumes of applications.

To qualify for such an upload, a user must have a minimum of 50 applications per day. Users will enter the information into a spreadsheet template, and then forward the information on to the SIMA Team for upload. Instructions about using this option will be placed on the licensing website.

Important dates to remember:

February 2, 2009: Early registration begins for new user ID’s in the new steel licensing system.
February 28, 2009 – March 1, 2009: Current Licensing system closed to new applications.
March 2, 2009: Apply for steel licenses in the new system (new user id required).

A tutorial of the new system is also available for downloading @ http://ia.ita.doc.gov/steel/license/index.html.

Regards,

Paul Vroman
Regulatory & Compliance Consultant
DHL Global Forwarding