CBP Posts Report on Recent ACE Release 5 Workshops on Licenses, Permits, Certificates; Post Summary Corrections; Etc.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a new "Trade Engagement Biweekly Reports" which summarize topics discussed during workshops held to develop the business requirements for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Release 5.
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(These workshops are attended by members of the Trade Support Network (TSN), called Trade Ambassadors, who are importers, brokers, carriers, and other members of the trade community.) The following are highlights of CBP's summary of six ACE Release 5 workshops held in late mid-May 2005:
Trade Portal Screen Definition - May 9, 2005.CBP states that this workshop on the trade portal screen definition focused on providing an overview of the ACE Release 3 portal functionality, and the portal development process. CBP notes that the account views in ACE Release 3 are more aggregated, whereas ACE Release 5 will be concentrating on the transaction view, i.e., entry by entry. Also discussed during the workshop were the transactional views that would be accessed via the portal.
The goal of the workshop was to determine (1) what transactional information the trade wants from the portal and to what level do the trade representatives want to be involved in the design. According to CBP, the trade stated that they would like to be part of the interactive process and may have an interest in coming back to participate in the design of each transaction.
Licenses, permits, and certificates - May 10, 2005. The workshop on licenses, permits, and certificates consisted of an introduction which addressed issues such as the experience the trade has had with sending documents, whether CBP is pursuing something other than scanned documents, and an indication by the trade that the solution should accommodate both electronic and paper documentation.
The trade and CBP also discussed during this workshop the validation of process and other information collected as part of the entry package (e.g., wearing apparel detail sheet, footwear declaration, child labor statement, etc.). According to the report, another work session was expected to be added at the end of June 2005 to further discuss issues related to licenses, permits, and certificates.
Post summary corrections - May 10, 2005. During the workshop on post summary corrections, CBP and the trade discussed known business rules, such as (partial list):
corrections will be allowed for 182 days from the date of certification date or entry date;
it will be possible to change all fields as part of the post summary corrections that can be changed as part of the (supplemental information letter/post entry amendment (SIL/PEA) process;
only entry types 01, 03, and 06 will be processed via post summary corrections (for 06 entry types, admissibility changes will not be processed.)
At this workshop, the trade and CBP also discussed various post summary corrections options.
Antidumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD). During the AD/CVD workshop, the trade and CBP discussed the following AD/CV case maintenance enhancements that the Department of Commerce (Commerce) is expected to make:
include address information as part of shipper/manufacturer/exporter/importer/ ultimate consignee (i.e. ultimate purchaser);
name and address for producer and exporter will be part of master record case files maintained by Commerce
add special deposit indicator and validity dates
additional search capabilities
accommodate specific rates; and
enhancements in terms of Entry Summary Submission.
The workshop also addressed enhancements in terms of entry summary submission, AD/CVD reconciliation; process flow; and other issues.
Non-standard entry types - May 11, 2005. The workshop on non-standard entry types discussed (a) vessel repairs, (b) trade fairs, (c) temporary importation bond (TIB), and (d) permanent exhibition bond (PEB).
Trade Support Network (TSN) reporting work session - May 12, 2005. According to CBP, the goal of the TSN reporting work session was to gather the necessary information for the Release 5 Business Process Teams to create the Report Detailed Definitions (RDDs) and associated Functional Specifications from the 37 TSN report requirement recommendations submitted by the TSN Committees and Subcommittees. The reports discussed at this session include: (partial list): ABI/Reject Report, Antidumping Countervailing Duty by Case Number Report, Additional HTS Report, etc.
May 9-12 2005 Trade Engagement Biweekly Report (Report No. 11) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/trade_support_network/report_workshop/report_07012005.ctt/report_070105.doc.