CBP posted the two most recent versions of its ACE Entry Summary Business Process document (here). The most recent version (here), dated Aug. 26, includes a new section on drawback in preparation for the Oct. 1 deadline mandating ACE for electronic drawback filings (see 1608110026).
CBP issued a Federal Register notice (here) announcing its previously announced plans to require filing of electronic drawback claims in ACE on Oct. 1. As of that date, the legacy Automated Commercial System “will no longer be a CBP-authorized [electronic data interchange] system for purposes of processing” drawback claims, CBP said. The notice also announces the creation of new entry type 47 for all types of drawback, replacing entry types 41 through 46. CBP has previously said the importer will separately specify the type of drawback being claimed (see 1606070040). CBP is also “removing the reference to NAFTA from the name of the ACE filing code 08 for duty deferral,” it said. Liquidation is also set to be deployed in ACE on Oct. 1, and electronic reconciliation will be mandated in ACE on that date as well (see 1607070032). For now, reconciliation summaries must still be filed only in ACS, and CBP will publish “a subsequent Federal Register Notice in the future” when reconciliation “will be transitioned in ACE,” it said.
CBP’s Oct. 1 deadline for drawback in ACE will bring changes not only for electronic claims currently filed in the Automated Commercial System, but also for claims submitted manually, agency officials said during an Aug. 11 webinar. Electronic claims in ACE will be subject to a limit of 5,000 records, and supporting documentation will have to be uploaded in the document imaging system (DIS) within 24 hours for a claim to be considered complete, said Lena Torrence of CBP’s Commercial Operations, Revenue and Entry division. As CBP has previously announced (see 1606070040), current entry types 41 through 46 will be replaced with the single entry type 47, with the relevant provision of drawback laws cited on the claim, and all communication for electronic claims, including CBP Form 28s, through the ACE portal, she said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP will add "Protest Filer Account" testing to its ACE Portal pilot, the agency said in a notice (here). "The owner of an ACE Protest Filer Account will have the ability to create and maintain through the ACE Portal information regarding the name, address, and contact information for the corporate and individual account owner for the Protest Filer Account," CBP said. "Protest filers will use the existing account structure established for other accounts within the ACE Portal." CBP will later test electronic protest submissions through the ACE Protest Module from Protest Filer Accounts, CBP said. "Parties authorized to file a protest include importers or consignees for an entry, or their sureties; persons paying any charge or exaction; persons seeking entry or delivery; persons filing a claim for drawback; exporters or producers of the merchandise subject to a determination of origin under section 202 of the NAFTA Implementation Act, if the exporter or producer completed and signed a NAFTA Certificate of Origin covering the merchandise; or the authorized agent of any of these persons," CBP said. "When a protest is filed by a person acting as an agent for the principal that agent must have a power of attorney that grants authority to the agent to make, sign and file a protest on behalf of the protesting party." CBP recently announced the end to electronic protests through the Automated Commercial System (see 1607270015). Electronic filing will require use of ACE starting Aug. 27, CBP said last month (see 1607070032).
CBP updated its schedule for mandatory use of ACE to include time frames for protest and drawbacks filing, it said in a CSMS message (here). The added items all follow the July 23 mandatory use date for the vast majority of electronic filings. All electronic protests must be filed through the ACE portal starting Aug. 27, the agency said on its ACE schedule website (here). Starting Oct. 1, "transmission of all remaining electronic portions of the CBP cargo process will be required in ACE," the agency said. That includes duty deferrals, drawback, reconciliation, collections and liquidation, CBP said. CBP will require use of ACE for all remaining Partner Government Agency data, but the exact date is still to be determined, it said. "The updated transition timeline aligns with the December 2016 deadline for full implementation of the Single Window via ACE," CBP said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
House appropriators adopted an amendment that would require CBP to explain its drawback policies in the face of concerns that the agency might be wrongly denying unused merchandise drawback claims, as well as drawback claims where taxes are collected by federal agencies other than CBP. The amendment is part of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill for fiscal year 2017 approved by the House Appropriations Committee on June 22. That amendment would also require CBP to provide lawmakers with a report detailing “why drawback claims are not treated consistently” across all categories of imported goods, as well as the reasons for rejection of drawback claims for “certain imported products,” whether paid to CBP or a partner government agency. The bill now goes to the House floor for consideration. Senate appropriators sent their version of fiscal 2017 Department of Homeland Security funding legislation to that chamber’s floor in May (see 1605260037).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 6-10 in case they were missed.
The House Appropriations Committee pointed to CBP hiring issues among the reasons behind its recommendation for $112.7 million less than the White House requested in overall CBP operations and support personnel funding as part of its fiscal 2017 Department of Homeland Security spending bill, the committee's draft report on the legislation said (here). The committee pointed to CBP’s past hiring difficulties and lack of Congressional oversight on unbound CBP finances as reasons for the decreased level, which is part of a $395.6 million proposed reduction in CBP operations and support from the Obama administration’s request. The bill would fund CBP operations and support personnel at $443.9 million, or 4 percent of the $11.2 billion level the bill would give CBP in total. The bill's overall CBP funding amount comes in at $458.1 million below the White House’s requested level, but at $158 million more than total fiscal 2016 funding (see 1606080053).