(a) The following terms shall have the respective meanings provided in this section. Terms not defined in this section which are defined in the UCC shall have the respective meanings accorded such terms in the UCC.

1. (1) Approved form means a form promulgated under section 143-1.3(a) of this Subpart, or any other form deemed by the filing office, in its sole discretion, to be substantially similar to a form promulgated under section 143-1.3(a) of this Subpart.
2. (2) Authorized XML remitter means a remitter who has received express authorization from the central filing office to transmit XML documents to the central filing office, and whose authorization has not been revoked or suspended.
3. (3) Central filing office means the office of the Secretary of State.
4. (4) Electronic Federal tax lien document means a Federal tax lien document communicated to a filing office in a medium which is other than on paper or in a paper-based format.
5. (5) Electronic UCC document means a UCC document communicated to a filing office in a medium which is other than on paper or in a paper-based format.
6. (6) Federal tax lien document means a notice of lien for taxes payable to the United States of America, or a certificate or notice affecting any such lien.

7. (7) File number means the unique identifying information assigned to an initial financing statement by the filing officer for the purpose of identifying the financing statement and UCC documents relating to the financing statement in the filing officer's information management system. The filing number bears no relation to the time of filing and is not an indicator of priority.

   1. (i) For an initial financing statement filed in the central filing office on or before November 14, 2002, the file number shall consist of:

      1. (a) the date of filing of the initial financing statement; and
      2. (b) the six-digit number assigned to the initial financing statement by the central filing office.
   2. (ii) For an initial financing statement filed in the central filing office on or after November 15, 2002, the file number shall consist of the 15-digit number assigned to the initial financing statement by the central filing office.
8. (8) Filing office means an office in which UCC documents are filed.
9. (9) Local-filing office means a filing office referred to in UCC section 501(a)(1).
10. (10) Regular business hours of a filing office means the hours during which the UCC unit of such filing office is regularly open to the public for transaction of business, on those days during which the UCC unit of such filing office is open to the public for the transaction of business, as established from time to time by such filing office.
11. (11) Remitter means a person who tenders a UCC document to a filing office for filing, whether the person is a filer or an agent of a filer responsible for tendering the document for filing. Remitter does not include a person responsible merely for the delivery of the document to a filing office, such as the postal service or a courier service, but does include a service provider who acts as a filer's representative in the filing process.
12. (12) UCC means the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in this State and in effect from time to time.
13. (13) UCC document means an initial financing statement, an amendment, an assignment, a continuation statement, a termination statement, a correction statement, or a cooperative addendum that relates to a previously filed financing statement.
14. (14) Written Federal tax lien document means a Federal tax lien document communicated to a filing office on paper or in a paper-based format (including, but not limited to, a Federal tax lien document communicated to a filing office by facsimile delivery).
15. (15) Written UCC document means a UCC document communicated to a filing office on paper or in a paper-based format (including, but not limited to, a UCC document communicated to a filing office by facsimile delivery).
16. (16) XML means eXtensible Markup Language.
17. (17) XML document means a UCC document transmitted to the central filing office by XML techniques authorized under Subpart 143-3 of this Part.