So in your email from US Customs and Border Protection, and in red font on top of the pdf downloaded from customs’ Automated Commercial Environment, it says “verify.” Something must be wrong, right? Not necessarily.
The message occurs for about one-fourth of vehicle export filings in AESDirect. Often, they are false flags, requiring no further action besides double checking the VIN. Less frequently they indicate legitimate errors in need of correcting.
Below are some of the most common verify messages explained.
(972-VERIFY) SHIPMENT ADDED; MUST VERIFY
(606-VERIFY) VIN CONTAINS INVALID CHARACTERS
This is a false flag if… you are exporting a car manufactured in Germany, easily spotted by a VIN beginning with “W.” It is also common for domestically-made Fords, surprisingly. If you’ve double checked and, yes, that is your BMW or Ford’s correct VIN then, false flag, there is nothing more for you to do.
Submit corrections if… you’ve accidentally submitted a VIN with the letters I, O, or Q. Most (modern) VINs don’t have these. These letters should probably be replaced with the numbers 1 or 0.
The “shipment added; must verify” message isn’t important. It is a generic “disposition” message generated by the Automated Export System (AES).
(976-VERIFY) SHIPMENT REPLACED; MUST VERIFY
(609-VERIFY) VIN IS TOO SHORT
This is a false flag if… your vehicle was manufactured prior to the early 80s. Around this time the 17-character VIN became standard. Your 1968 Mustang project car won’t have this, but will instead have a shorter VIN, in which case the verify message is inevitable.
Submit corrections if… your car was manufactured in the mid-80s or afterward. This is when the 17-character VIN became standard.
The “shipment replaced; must verify” part means something was changed from the original filing.
(972-VERIFY) SHIPMENT ADDED; MUST VERIFY
(605-VERIFY) VIN CHECK DIGIT FAILURE
Customs’ system doesn’t like what is in the ninth place of the VIN, the “check digit.” Double check the VIN and correct if necessary. This is sometimes a false flag.
(972-VERIFY) SHIPMENT ADDED; MUST VERIFY
(613-VERIFY) VIN CONTAINS INVALID YEAR
Here customs’ system doesn’t like what is in the tenth place of the VIN, the year position. Again, double check and correct if necessary.
(972-VERIFY) SHIPMENT ADDED; MUST VERIFY
(855-VERIFY) FOREIGN ORIGIN VERSUS IN-TRANSIT
Probably a false flag. Your AES filing has “foreign” as the point of origin of your car. AES is unnecessarily surprised by this as a lot of vehicles are manufactured overseas. This particular verify message is more significant for when other types of goods are being exported.
The most important takeaway here is to double check your AES filings, particularly the VIN in vehicle exports, and ensure that it is correct.