CBP Outlines Quota Transition Procedures Ahead of July 23 ACE Deadline
CBP outlined transition procedures for entries and entry summaries subject to quota that will be required to be filed in ACE beginning on July 23, in a notice to trade recently posted to its website (here). Starting on that date, entries and entry summaries associated with entry types 02, 07, 12, 21, 22 31, 32, 34 and 38 must be filed in ACE, along with entries and entry summaries of types 06 and 23 that include quota merchandise (non-quota type 06 and 23 entries are already required in ACE).
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After quota capabilities are activated in ACE on July 23, the legacy Automated Commercial System will no longer support quota submissions. “If you file these entry types electronically, please make sure your software vendor has coded for them as necessary,” CBP said. The last day for filers to submit non-Automated Broker Interface (ABI) transactions will be July 20, followed by the last day to submit ABI quota transactions in ACS on July 22. ACE quota will then go live on July 23 as ACS is shut off, and CBP “will input quota lines in ACE that were not input into ACS prior to cutover” over the period of July 25 through July 29, it said.
For entries and entry summaries subject to quota that are filed in ACS before July 23, ACS paper procedures for post-summary corrections and cancelations will continue to be followed, CBP said. “To cancel an entry summary, a paper cancelation request must be submitted to the appropriate port for CBP to cancel the entry summary,” with the same submission rule holding true for paper post-entry amendments (PEAs), it said. For entries and entry summaries filed in ACE with quota, filers should follow electronic post-summary correction (PSC) procedures, CBP said. “To cancel an ACE entry summary, a request will need to be submitted to CBP and CBP will process the request.”
Quota entries should be filed as type 02 until quota is filled, at which point the filer will receive a message that the low rate is no longer available, CBP said. Subsequent entries during the relevant quota period should then be filed as type 01 with the high rate. CBP will be replacing the paper preliminary review with a pre-allocation review in ACE that will provide 72 hours after opening moment for the “redress of any concerns prior to allocation,” CBP said.
CBP will give filers a 12-hour grace period after opening moment for quotas that are expected to oversubscribe, it said. “Special date filtering rules” will apply, where CBP will consider any quota entry filed “between 12 midnight (local) and 12 noon (Eastern) on the quota opening date” to have a “presentation time of 12 noon (Eastern) to ensure all filers are treated the same in terms of quota priority,” it said. “Filers making a good faith effort to submit for quota during the opening moment timeframe will be able to take advantage of the pre-allocation review to address any issues or concerns with their filing before quota is allocated,” CBP said.