Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has upgraded its CBP.gov homepage. According to a CBP news release on the upgrade, this is the first in a series of upgrades designed to provide a modernized, user-friendly Web site. The new homepage features more and larger photos, a rotating news ticker and streamlined layout. Future upgrades will simplify the navigation structure and improve users' experience with second level feature pages. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/24/08 news, 08012430 1, for BP summary announcing that CBP would be updating CBP.gov.)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted to its Web site its report to Congress on the Automated Commercial Environment for the third quarter (April 1, 2007 - June 30, 2007) and fourth quarter (July 1, 2007 - September 30, 2007) of fiscal year (FY) 2007.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that the Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal will not be available each week from 11:00 p.m. EST on Saturday until 5:00 a.m. EST on Sunday for system maintenance.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2007 which contains certain performance data concerning CBP's progress in achieving, among other things, the six strategic goals that are set forth in CBP's Strategic Plan for FYs 2005-2010.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General has issued a report containing an independent audit conducted by KPMG LLP that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's fiscal year 2007 internal controls over financial reporting.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted PowerPoint presentations on Entry Summary, Accounts, and Revenue (ESAR) A1 and A2. The presentation on ESAR A1 highlights the functionality and benefits (additional/enhanced Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) account types, ACE becoming the system of record for certain data elements, etc.) that were delivered with its September 2007 deployment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a notice and press release to its Web site announcing its launch of a new means of delivering information on its Automated Commercial Trade Interface Systems.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that all Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) reports would be unavailablefrom 7 pm Monday, January 14, 2008 until approximately 7 am Tuesday, January 15, 2008 (eastern time). Preliminary Monthly Statements (PMS) were to be available on Tuesday morning January 15, 2008 and all data was to be current. CBP adds that data in other reports may not be current until 7:00 am on January 16, 2008. (Adm: 08-0001, dated 01/14/08, available at http://www.brokerpower.com/admmsgs/2008/08-0001.html)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a memo on the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements' (CITA's) recent determinations that certain fabrics cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner under the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA, also abbreviated as CAFTA-DR). As a result, such fabric is added to the list in Annex 3.25 of the DR-CAFTA in unrestricted quantities.

The following are documents which CBP updates frequently (weekly, monthly, etc.):