CBP's April 2004 Modernization Newsletter on the Upcoming ACE Account Revenue Pilot, Release of FY 2004 ACE Funding, Etc
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its April 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Modernization newsletter, which is highlighted below:
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Pilot of New ACE Account Revenue Features Expected to Begin in June 2004
According to CBP's newsletter, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) enters a pivotal period of expansion with a pilot of new account revenue features, including monthly electronic payment/statement capabilities. U.S. government sources state that the account revenue feature pilot is expected to begin on June 21, 2004.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/05/04 news, 04020505, for BP summary of CBP's notice announcing this pilot and the establishment of ACE broker accounts.)
U.S. government sources also state that CBP has decided to begin User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of the new account revenue features in late June 2004; specifically, CBP will begin a two-month period of training, beginning in mid-June 2004, during which each of the participants will go through a three-day training session, followed by several weeks of UAT.
Congress Releases FY 2004 Funding for ACE
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have recently approved CBP's Modernization Expenditure Plan for fiscal year (FY) 2004. As a result of the approval of the plan, the committees have released all of the funds appropriated to CBP for modernization in FY 2004.
(Although Congressional sources could not confirm the exact levels of the FY 2004 funding released, CBP was appropriated $441,122,000 for automated systems in FY 2004, of which not less than $318,690,000 is for the development of ACE. See ITT's Online Archives or 10/02/03 news, 03100215, for BP summary of the enactment of the FY 2004 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill.)
According to CBP's newsletter, the funds released for FY 2004 will be used to: define and design future end-to-end ACE e-processing capabilities; expand Selectivity and Targeting features; operate and maintain current ACE capabilities; and continue defining requirements for the International Trade Data System (ITDS).
CBP Has Begun Six-Month Pilot Test of ACE Security Technologies
CBP's newsletter states that six month pilot tests of two new types of border security technology began in March 2004 - Knowledge-Based Risk Management (KBRM) and Intelligent Information Factory (IIF).
According to CBP, KBRM software is designed to make it easier to create categories of data and search rules that can more quickly identify potential problems by analyzing patterns of activities. CBP also states that a prototype of IIF tests analytical software tools to support the National Targeting Center (NTC) mission.
After the test period, CBP states that it will independently evaluate KBRM and IIF to decide if they should be used to build Selectivity and Targeting features in ACE.
CBP's April 2004 Modernization newsletter available at