CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP is continuing to track stakeholder readiness for ACE transition, and expects its first mandatory use date on March 31 to proceed smoothly, said an agency spokeswoman that same day. The switch from a hard Feb. 28 deadline to phased approach “has alleviated concerns voiced by the trade community regarding readiness by staggering the integration of the PGAs, and allowing more time for all parties to fully transition to ACE,” she said.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is extending by one week the period for comments on its proposal to set new filing requirements at time of entry for imports of certain species of seafood the agency has deemed high-risk, it said. Under the agency’s Feb. 5 proposed rule (see 1602040020), filers would have to submit through ACE certain data elements and electronic documents in order to improve traceability of imports of the high-risk species. The importer of record would also have to maintain records on the chain of custody of their seafood imports, and obtain an International Fisheries Trade Permit for the high-risk species. Comments on the proposal are now due April 12.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP is working to fix a problem within ACE that erroneously deactivated ACE portal accounts, the agency said in a March 29 CSMS message (here). Following an increased number of calls about ACE portal deactivations, CBP determined the cause and "rectified the problem," it said. "While CBP is working to identify and repair the erroneous deactivations, Trade Account Owners can now reactivate and reset passwords from their portal accounts," CBP said.
CBP determined that ACE is capable of accepting Food and Drug Administration regulated electronic entries through the Partner Government Agency (PGA) Message Set, CBP said in a notice (here). As a result of that finding, CBP will end the pilot program effective May 2, it said. While that test is ending, "CBP is not, at this time, decommissioning the Automated Commercial System (ACS) for transmitting FDA data," CBP said. "Nonetheless, ACE is capable of accepting FDA-regulated electronic entries and CBP encourages all importers of merchandise regulated by the FDA to now use ACE for their electronic filings."
After months of hand-wringing and multiple delays, the first ACE mandatory use date on March 31 looks set to go smoothly, said software developers and customs brokers the day before the transition. CBP’s phased implementation approach appears to have paid dividends, with March 31 marking no change at all for many filers who already file the required types of entries and entry summaries in ACE, they said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP opened up a "war room" on March 28 to help industry with the March 31 ACE mandatory use date for several types of entries, said CBP on its website (here). The war room, which is overseen by the ACE Business Office, will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through April 8, said the agency. Anyone interested in reaching the war room will first need to go through a client representative, who "will have direct access to the war room and will escalate your issue, if necessary," CBP said. The war room will only address issues related to transactions mandated in ACE on March 31, which includes entry summaries for entry types 01, 03, 11, 23, 51 and 52 as well as all entries and entry summaries of those entry types with Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Lacey Act or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data (see 1603250048). CBP had similar plans for past transition dates (see 1506010042).