CBP is seeking participants in a new working group to inform its development of the Automated Commercial Environment for data filing related to goods regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, said CBP in a CSMS message (here). The working group will focus on the information technology issues associated with implementing ACE, said CBP. The group will "consist of members of the international trade community that import ATF-regulated commodities, software development companies, and representatives from" CBP and ATF, it said.
Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)
The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is the CBP's electronic system through which the international trade community reports imports and exports and the government determines admissibility.
CBP "is focused on getting remaining software vendors certified for entry filing" ahead of the Nov. 1 transition date for cargo release and summary filing in the Automated Commercial Environment, said CBP (here). "Filers who are not prepared to file entries/entry summaries in ACE on November 1 could face delays in cargo processing, impacting release of goods at the border since entries/entry summaries not filed in ACE will be filed as paper transactions," the agency said. So far, 36 of 38 software vendors are certified for entry summary and 21 are certified for entry, CBP said.
CBP will require the use of the Automated Commercial Environment for almost all manifest filing as of May 1. CBP will allow for some "flexibility" in the transition to ACE for air manifest, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). While the "the deadline for ACE Air Manifest continues to be May 1st," industry will be able to continue to "test the system" until June 6th, when Air Automated Manifest System will be phased out, it said. "Accordingly, ABI Air Inbond filers will continue to use QX/WX to allow the air industry additional time to test the system," said CBP
CBP will replace all antidumping and countervailing duty reports in the Automated Commercial Environment secure data portal, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). As of May 11, all existing reports will be replaced with "new reports designed to enhance AD/CVD oversight and provide data for both ACE and ACS entries," it said.
CBP plans to provide an outline of cargo release processes within the Automated Commercial Environment on May 15, said Steve Hilsen, lead executive of the Single Window Program Office at CBP. Hilsen and ACE Business Office Acting Director Deborah Augustin spoke about Single Window progress at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 22 in Orlando, Florida. Most of the Partner Government Agency functionalities will begin production as of June 27, though there will be some delay in adding non-Lacey Act capabilities for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Hilsen said. A CBP presentation included a number of "key dates" in preparation of the Nov. 1 requirement for electronic summary and entry filing in ACE (here).
CBP should consider adjusting its implementation schedule for the Automated Commercial Environment if the trade community isn’t ready by the Nov. 1 deadline for mandatory filing, said the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) in a formal recommendation adopted at its April 24 meeting. Under CBP’s current plans, filers that aren’t ready for ACE on Nov. 1 will have to file on paper as the Automated Commercial System (ACS) is shut down. COAC’s One U.S. Government at the Border Subcommittee said it is “concerned that reverting to paper will significantly slow the velocity of trade, especially given the pre-holiday peak season.”
ORLANDO, Fla. – The upcoming Food and Drug Administration pilot to test filing and release of FDA-regulated entries in the Automated Commercial Environment will start with drugs before expanding to other products, said Domenic Veneziano, FDA director of import operations, at the annual conference of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America April 22. The pilot, which will begin July 1, will start at three ports: Baltimore, Otay Mesa and Philadelphia, he said. The agency wants to make sure its IT systems are running smoothly before adding other FDA-regulated products to the pilot, but intends to eventually test all types of commodities before ACE cargo release becomes mandatory in November, said Veneziano. Medical devices will come after drugs in August, he said. Veneziano announced the FDA pilot would begin in July at a webinar last March (see 1503240065).
CBP provided a list of entry and entry summary filing methods to be available as of Nov. 1, after which electronic filing will be required in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The list (here) includes a comparison of the filing methods available now and the methods that will disappear on Nov. 1. CBP reported that some filers are confused as to whether they can file in ACE. "Filers have advised CBP that they understand their entries are filed in ACE, when in fact they are transmitting ACE Entry Summary data and certifying corresponding cargo release data in the Automated Commercial System (ACS)," said the agency. "These transmissions do not constitute an ACE entry filing, which is required for the November 1, 2015 mandatory date." Currently, only four percent of all entries are filed within ACE, it said.
Drawback modernization, an increase in the de minimis level to $800, and an exemption from duties for container residue are components of the customs reauthorization bill set for inclusion in the package of trade legislation coming together in Congress, according to a summary of the draft bill from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah (here). The customs reauthorization bill, introduced in the Senate (here), would also provide for enhanced trade enforcement, including databases of new importers and importer of record numbers, the ability for CBP to share unredacted samples of articles suspected to infringe intellectual property rights, and timelines for formal CBP investigations of antidumping and countervailing duty evasion. Highlights of the summary, which was provided by Hatch in anticipation of a markup scheduled for April 22 (see 1504200054), are as follows:
ORLANDO, FLA. – CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings is "preparing a number of proposed amendments" to customs broker regulations in 19 CFR Part 111, said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske while speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America on April 21. Kerlikowske also lauded the movement of just-introduced customs legislation.