CBP Releases its December 31, 2005 Quarterly Report to Congress on ACE (Part III - ACE Future Releases)

CBP states that these reports provide an update on ACE accomplishments, challenges, fiscal status, and upcoming program milestones.

CBP notes that these reports also address the ongoing CBP efforts to integrate ACE with other systems and engage other government agencies to participate in the ACE/International Trade Data System (ITDS).

This is Part III, the final part of a multi-part series of summaries on CBP's most recent quarterly report (October 1, 2006-December 31, 2006) and highlights ACE future releases (and the schedule outlook), as of December 31, 2006.

According to CBP's report, the following is an outline of the features in future ACE releases, including CBP's current projections for its full deployment nationwide (referred to as Full Operational Capability (FOC) by CBP):

Future ACE Secure Cargo Management Capabilities (as of 12/31/06)

Entry Summary, Accounts, and Revenue (ESAR, Release 5)

Master Data and Enhanced Accounts (A1)

(FOC 05/31/07¹)

• Most account types, including broker, carrier, commercial driver, importer, consignee, surety, cartman, lighterman, third party claimants, foreign trade zone (FTZ) operator, service provider, warehouse operator, and manufacturer ID/shipper.
• Master and reference data in ACE
• Cross-account access
• Merge accounts

Entry Summary and Revenue (A2)

(FOC 11/27/08)

• Entry summary processing

o Liquidation/closeout

o Post-summary corrections

o Reconciliation processing

o Quota/visa processing

o Team review processing

o Antidumping/countervailing duty processing

o Prior disclosure processing

o Protest processing

• Managed accounts

o Licenses, permits, certificates, and other documents

o Program participation

• Finance processing

o Accounts receivable

o Collections and receipts

o Refunds

o Bond application storage (e-Bond processing)

o Bond sufficiency

o Drawback financials

E-Manifest: All Modes - Cargo Control and Release (Release 6)

E-Manifest: Rail and Sea Manifest (M1)

(FOC 12/24/09)

• Cargo manifest processing for sea/rail modes of transportation and conversion of cargo control databases to multi-modal format
• Initial Multi-Modal Manifest reporting
• Enhanced information reporting and cargo control capabilities including:

o Complete itinerary, improved display of cargo stowage plan, validation of the 24-hour pre-arrival notification rule, and expanded vessel information for sea transport

o Improved display of the train cargo manifest, house bill of lading information, and expanded train information for rail transport

o Expanded inter-modal event reporting by trade partners

• Enhanced data sharing with participating government agencies (PGAs)
• Secure wireless capability for CBP officers to communicate remotely and to query and update transaction and enforcement data
• Improved method of tracking in-bond (in-transit) cargo and closing it, if it is exported
• Utilization of the United Nations standard cargo stowage plan for container vessels (BAPLIE) to assist in identifying unmanifested containers that represent a threat vector to the U.S.

E-Manifest: Air Manifest and Cargo Release (M2)

(FOC 08/19/10)

• Air manifest
• Cargo manifest processing and shared multi-modal database with truck, rail, sea, air, and reference files in the ACE Secure Data Portal for carrier accounts, PGAs, and CBP
• Modernization of Cargo Selectivity "entry" processing (cargo release) in ACE
• Accept all major entry types
• Linkage of Bill of Lading and entry data
• Modernized vessel entrance and clearance
• Enhanced vessel conveyance management capabilities
• Automated fee calculations
• Enhanced data sharing with PGAs

E-Manifest: Exports and Mail Entry Writing System (MEWS) (M3)

(FOC 07/29/10)

• Export processing (modernization of deployed Automated Export System (AES) application)
• Modernization of MEWS application; enhanced targeting of international mail

Exports & Cargo Control (Release 7)

ESAR: Drawback, Protest, and Importer Activity Summary Statement (IASS) (A3)

(FOC 07/29/10)

• Drawback
• Enhanced protest
• IASS

e-Manifest: Custodial Entities, Pipelines, and Batch Processes (M4)

(FOC 08/25/11)

• Manifest, e-Release, enforcement, and tracking for mail, hand-carry, and pipeline

Future ACE Screening & Targeting (S&T) Capabilities (as of 12/31/06)

Advanced Targeting

(FOC 09/20/07)

Additional screening capabilities and extended targeting tools for trend and pattern analysis

• Enhanced criteria management and criteria impact assessment
• Extended targeting functionality (identification of anomalies and potential areas for additional CBP attention)
• Extended screening capability to include additional areas (e.g., ACE accounts)

Evaluating screening and targeting results

• Extensions to the CBP Risk Management Circle (e.g., metrics and compliance measures that will provide insight into, and feedback on, operational and technical targeting effectiveness)

¹CBP has recently posted a notice to its Web site announcing a delay in the deployment date for ACE ESAR A1 to August 2007 (from May 2007). (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/20/07 news, 07032010, for BP summary.)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/20/07 and 03/21/07 news, 07032015 and 07032105, for Parts I and II.)

October 1-December 31, 2006 ACE quarterly report (posted 03/01/07) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/ace/newsletters/quarterly_reports/ace_report_to_congress_12312006.ctt/ace_report_to_congress_12312006.pdf.

January-September 2006 ACE quarterly reports (posted February 2007) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/ace/newsletters/quarterly_reports/.