A Caribbean shipment from PortMiami needs two sets of paperwork that agree with each other: the U.S. export side (the EEI filing and its ITN, plus the carrier’s bill of lading and manifest) and the destination side (the invoice, bill of lading, permits and declaration the island’s customs authority expects). This guide walks through both, with the rules quoted from official sources.
PortMiami calls itself the Cargo Gateway of the Americas, and for many Caribbean islands it is the natural last U.S. stop for consumer goods, building materials, food and machinery. The boxes are rarely the problem. The paperwork is: a container can sit on the dock because the export filing was late, or sit at destination because the invoice, the bill of lading and the customs declaration describe the cargo three different ways.
Two authorities look at every outbound shipment. In the United States, the export data goes to the government through the Automated Export System (AES). At destination, the local customs authority checks the documents the consignee or its broker presents. If you are the carrier or NVOCC, you sit in the middle: you issue the bill of lading both sides rely on.
The Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Regulations (15 CFR Part 30) set when Electronic Export Information (EEI) must be filed. According to the Census quick guide, shipments valued at $2,500 or less per Schedule B number are exempt from filing, unless a license is required or another rule makes filing mandatory regardless of value. The test is per Schedule B line, not per shipment, so one container can need a filing because of a single high-value line.
Timing is what catches ocean shippers. For vessel cargo, the guide states the EEI must be filed 24 hours prior to loading cargo on the vessel at the U.S. port where the cargo is laden. When AES accepts the filing it returns an Internal Transaction Number (ITN), which is the proof of filing citation. The exporter (the USPPI) or its authorized agent gives that citation to the carrier, and the carrier annotates it on its outbound manifest. A filing that comes back with a fatal error does not generate an ITN, so “we sent it” is not the same as “it was accepted.”
| Item | Who usually provides it | When |
|---|---|---|
| EEI filing in AES | USPPI or its authorized agent | 24 hours before loading on the vessel (vessel cargo) |
| ITN or exemption citation | USPPI or agent, to the carrier | Before the cargo is loaded |
| Bill of lading | Carrier or NVOCC | At or after loading, from the booking and dock receipt data |
| Outbound manifest with the ITN | Carrier | As part of vessel clearance |
The International Trade Administration also notes that some shipments require filing regardless of value, including licensed shipments and shipments to certain sanctioned destinations. For the full rules, see our AES and EEI export filing guide.
The bill of lading is the document every other party reads. Shipper, consignee, notify party, marks, package count, description, weights and the ITN all need to match the EEI and the commercial invoice. A consignee name spelled one way on the invoice and another on the bill of lading is a classic reason for a destination customs query.
Export manifest rules are also changing. In its Customs Bulletin of May 13, 2026, CBP published a proposed rule for an Electronic Export Manifest for vessel cargo. As proposed, an initial filing of eight data elements would be due no later than 24 hours before loading at the port of export, with the remaining data due two hours before the vessel departs. Comments closed April 13, 2026. It is a proposal, not a final rule, so check its current status with CBP before you change procedures. Either way, carriers whose bills of lading are built from clean booking data will have an easier time.
Every island sets its own rules, and they change, so treat the list below as the usual core and confirm the details with the consignee, its customs broker or the destination customs authority before the cargo sails. Two examples from official sources show how similar the core is:
For a side-by-side look at three of the region’s busiest lanes, see shipping to Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
Many Miami carriers also serve Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are not foreign destinations, but the export filing rules still reach them. The Census quick guide states that EEI is required for shipments from the United States to Puerto Rico, from Puerto Rico to the United States, and from Puerto Rico to foreign countries. EEI is not required for shipments from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico, or between the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories. When a lane mixes these destinations, set up your booking rules so the right ones trigger a filing.
Most documentation errors come from retyping. The same shipper, consignee and cargo lines are entered in a quote, a booking, a dock receipt, a bill of lading, a manifest and an invoice. When each step reads from the one before it, a correction made once shows up everywhere.
GDZ-ISIS was built that way in Miami for carriers and NVOCCs working out of PortMiami, the Miami River and Port Everglades: bookings feed dock receipts and bills of lading, and its EDI interfaces include standards such as ANSI X12 and ASYCUDA. If you want to see how that would work for your Caribbean lanes, contact GDZ for a demonstration.
No. Under the Foreign Trade Regulations, EEI is generally required when the value of any Schedule B line is over $2,500 or when a license is required, and some destinations and goods require filing regardless of value. Lower-value shipments are often exempt, but the exemption must be cited.
The Census Bureau’s guide states that for vessel cargo the EEI must be filed 24 hours prior to loading the cargo on the vessel at the U.S. port where it is laden. The ITN must reach the carrier before loading.
The Internal Transaction Number is the number AES returns when it accepts an EEI filing. It is the proof of filing citation the carrier needs, and the carrier annotates it on its outbound manifest. A filing rejected with a fatal error gets no ITN.
Yes. The Census Bureau’s guide says EEI is required for shipments from the United States to Puerto Rico, even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory. Shipments from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Puerto Rico do not need EEI.
The common core is a commercial invoice, a bill of lading and any import permits or certificates the goods need, plus a certificate of origin when preferential duty is claimed. Each country sets its own list, so confirm it with the consignee or the destination customs authority.