CBP's Plans for ACE Funding Suggest Hybrid Solution for Section 321, New IOR Database for Risk Assessment
CBP will move forward with its two-track filing system for Section 321 entries in ACE, creating a new option to clear shipments via entry type 86 in the Automated Broker Interface while still allowing clearance off manifest in the Automated Manifest System, it said in a May 22 announcement of priority areas for $30 million in additional ACE development funding it received in appropriations legislation. As expected by some in industry (see 1802130035), the ABI option will be optional for filers but required for entries with partner government agency (PGA) data, CBP said.
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CBP had been publicly discussing the hybrid solution since the last half of 2017 (see 1709120025), before putting its official announcement on hold pending the outcome of NAFTA negotiations (see 1712050025). The plan had received some blowback from the brokerage community (see 1710170032). CBP says the trade community will benefit from being able to transmit Section 321 entries via ABI and receiving electronic messages for low-value shipments. “Section 321 transaction data will become available for CBP and trade review via ACE Reports,” CBP said.
The planned enhancement is one of several announced by the agency May 22. Much of the new funding will be used to make changes in ACE required by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act and upcoming CBP regulations. For example, CBP will use some of it to implement the transition to a national permit in ACE, reflecting the elimination of the system of district permits and waivers provided for in a forthcoming proposed rewrite of CBP’s Part 111 broker regulations. Those pending regulations will “provide cost savings to the brokerage community, while codifying current broker processes in the electronic and Center universe,” CBP said in its announcement.
CBP will also use the new funding to automate and update data elements on the identity of importers captured in CBP Form 5106. The automation will allow the collection of more detailed importer information, and provide for more streamlined processing by giving filers the ability to create, edit and update importer information via ACE. CBP says the new capability will allow it to support implementation of the importer of record database required by Section 114 of TFTEA. CBP also says the capability will “provide for more informative risk assessments prior to importation,” presumably referring to an importer risk assessment program also required by TFTEA (see 1602170074).
An upcoming enhancement will give importers and exporters the ability to electronically request confidentiality for their manifest data. “Currently, processing of these requests is completely manual. This enhancement will allow trade to submit and manage the confidentiality requests electronically via their ACE accounts, and for CBP to process requests online instead of through paper mailings,” CBP said. This enhancement will “significantly reduce the submission and processing time for manifest confidentiality requests, providing time savings to importers, consignees, and exporters,” it said.
A new unique identifier for Centers of Excellence and Expertise will be added to “all post-release work flow in ACE,” allowing for “streamlined routing to the appropriate CEE for processing,” CBP said. The new functionality will allow CBP “to move toward account-based processing,” CBP said. “It will also make it easier for trade to determine where transactions are being processed and will provide the ability to designate their CBP-assigned Center Identification (ID) code in their Entry Summary, Reconciliation, and Protest transaction submissions for account based processing,” CBP said.
A future enhancement to electronic foreign-trade zone admissions, only just deployed in December 2017, will “enable full modernization of the e214 process in ACE” by incorporating PGA requirements into e214 and adding “messaging to PGAs with regulatory authority over an FTZ, allowing for greater PGA visibility.” The change will enable the trade community “to submit PGA data simultaneously via the PGA Message Set transaction set or the Document Image System (DIS) when reporting the admission of goods into an FTZ.”
Other enhancements will “address mandatory updates related to the renewal of the GSP program,” CBP said. “This enhancement will provide ports and CBP entities greater visibility and streamlined access to risk management data, improving safety and security. GSP recipients will benefit from quicker payment of retroactive refunds after the GSP program expires and later becomes reinstated,” CBP said. CBP will also implement in ACE the capability to collect shipper phone numbers as an optional data element on the manifest.