AES stands for \"Automated Export System\", ECS for \"Export Control System\"; both are abbreviations of an international IT project which the European Commission has set up together with member states for the export sector. AES is used to accept electronic export declarations and to exchange data electronically between customs offices of export and exit. The corresponding IT process is called ATLAS. The electronic export procedure ATLAS export replaced the previous paper-based export procedure on 1 July 2009. Thus, electronic data exchange with customs authorities became binding for companies in international trade as of July 1, 2009. The electronic transmission of export data between the various national settlement systems is carried out via ECS.