International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 23-27 in case they were missed.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
PHOENIX – Following the July 23 mandatory use date for most remaining entry types, the Automated Commercial System will no longer be available for entry and entry summary filings even in cases of ACE outages, said Deborah Augustin, executive director of the ACE Business Office at CBP. After all the agencies that use ACS complete the transition to ACE on July 23, CBP will begin to dismantle ACS, she said while speaking at the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 26. "So, ACS then is no longer available as a back up for processing," she said. Field operations and downtime procedures may instead come into effect if there are issues with ACE, she said.
Most CBP inspection activities as well as ACE and the International Trade Data System (ITDS) remain largely shielded from cuts in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s fiscal year 2017 Department of Homeland Security spending legislation, despite the bill's proposal to fund CBP at $11.2 billion, $500 million less than the White House's request. Approved and sent by the full committee to the Senate floor on May 26, the bill pitches $813.2 million in for CBP automation modernization, $27.7 million below the Obama Administration’s request, but the ACE/ITDS budget line comes up only about $100,000 shorter, and automated targeting systems absorb a mere $30,000 cut from the $122.64 million programmed. CBP’s $407.2 million information technology request took the biggest hit of all programs in the automation modernization account, as senators plan to fund that program at $27.3 million less than the White House proposal.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
PHOENIX -- Plans for a rulemaking to eliminate hybrid filing as part of the ACE transition remain unsettled, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade in an interview at the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 25. The agency is being "very careful because that would be a significant change in policy," she said. "Right now we're trying to decide, does it make sense," she said. CBP is "still having that internal discussion," but will "need to communicate" a decision in "the fairly near future," Smith said. CBP previously sought input on prohibiting filings that are a combination of electronic and paper filings (see 1510090017), which drew some concerns within industry (see 1511100030).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
PHOENIX -- CBP will establish a five year plan meant to "sharpen expertise" at the agency, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade while speaking at the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 25. The plan is a response to retiring specialists within the agency as well as an ongoing modernization at CBP, she said. CBP will use a combination of virtual training, in-person courses, rotation "within CBP and other government agencies," and more interaction with industry, said Smith.
Entry summaries for type 06 foreign trade zone entries that are also subject to antidumping and countervailing duties should be filed in the Automated Commercial System until further notice, said CBP (here). “The ADCVD information is not writing over to ACS, resulting in statements not processing correctly,” said CBP. “A bug has been created and is actively being worked on,” it said. CBP has set a May 28 deadline for filing of type 06 entries and entry summaries with either no PGA data or with Lacey Act or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data in ACE (see 1602080042).
The ACE pilot on filing of data required by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is expected to end in June, said CBP (here), presumably opening up FSIS for full ACE filing. That will be followed in July by the end of ACE pilots on filing of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “core” (i.e., non-Lacey Act) data and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) data. CBP has set a July 23 deadline for all entries and entry summaries under most entry types in ACE (see 1605200034). Pilots for APHIS Lacey Act, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data are already over, with filing now open to all.