COAC Trade Facilitation Subcommittee Outlines NCAP Expansion, Gives Wish List
CBP may expand its National Customs Automation Program to test pipeline oil from Canada and Mexican steel in 2025, as well as test natural gas, food safety and medical devices under the heading of import processing in 2026, according to an issue paper prepared by CBP for the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee's Sept. 17 meeting.
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CBP also said it plans to conduct the final technical demonstration of interoperability standards in 2025, testing the exchange of data between CBP and select foreign customs authorities to confirm the agency can issue and exchange information globally.
The COAC's ACE Modernization Working Group prepared several proposed recommendations to CBP as CBP winds down the COAC in its current iteration (see 2507010077).
The proposed recommendations call for CBP:
- To return in ACE an ABI status message to the entry filer, including the date and time the goods are actually “arrived” for all modes of transportation.
- To distinguish the “provisional” and “actual” release dates in the entry status messages.
- To provide the entry filer the ability to elect the entry date, in conformance with federal regulation governing time of entry (19 CFR 141.68), in an automated fashion.
- To prioritize development of the Ocean Import Manifest Modernization white paper presented to CBP Manifest Branch in February 2022. The white paper proposes to streamline the submission of ocean advanced manifest data elements with the original intent of the Trade Act.
The ACE Modernization Working Group's proposed recommendations were among the many offered by the working group's parent COAC subcommittee, the Next Generation Facilitation Subcommittee.
Other working groups with the NGF subcommittee also issued their own proposed recommendations to CBP, according to an NGF subcommittee executive summary.
The Modernization of Entry Process Working Group recommends that CBP:
- Codify regulations for the reconciliation prototype, thereby removing it from the NCAP (National CBP Automation Program) test environment.
- Allow an entry summary to be flagged or unflagged for reconciliation via a Post Summary Correction.
- Allow AD/CVD entries to be flagged for Value and 9802 reconciliation reason codes.
- Enable a courtesy ‘no file’ notification to be sent electronically for reconciliation entries approaching the filing deadline. Additionally, a query function should be made available to identify unreconciled entries.
- Develop functionality in ABI to electronically file protests and 520(d) claims.
- Codify regulations for the Post-Summary Correction test, thereby removing it from the NCAP (National CBP Automation Program) test environment.
- Provide a detailed explanation of why a PSC is reverted back to the trade. Additionally, the reverted PSC should include contact information, including email addresses for follow-up.
The Broker Modernization working group proposed a recommendation that "CBP reestablish the government contract that authorizes engagement with industry subject matter experts and testing professionals, including trade practitioners and industrial psychologists. This collaboration is essential to improving the quality of exam content, enhancing question relevance, and ensuring scoring reliability of the Customs Broker License Examination."