BALTIMORE -- As efforts to facilitate trade and enhance border security continue into the future, a key factor in their success will be the trade industry’s and the government’s willingness to invest resources, said government and industry officials during a panel discussion at CBP’s East Coast Trade Symposium on Nov. 4. Continued automation and international harmonization will require a commitment from industry and the government to change business practices and educate stakeholders, they 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 to and from the U.S. and the government determines admissibility.
The International Trade Data System gives the Bureau of Industry and Security control to update Export Control Classification Numbers, create new license type codes and edit both the ECCNs and type codes in the Automated Export System, said BIS Director of Technology Evaluation Gerard Horner at a Nov. 3 Update conference seminar. In lauding ITDS and touting BIS’ response to industry concerns, Horner also said BIS is “ready to build” a BIS license documentation module in AES.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices for Nov. 2 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
CBP released a new version of its Automated Commercial Environment deployment schedule (here). The new edition, dated Oct. 28, includes numerous changes from the last version.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America called for further CBP caution ahead of the planned Feb. 28 transition date for use of the Automated Commercial Environment, the trade group said in an "open letter to importers and exporters." The agency is "challenged in having too few trade technical resources that are available to support the transition into the new system, restricting the ability of brokers to successfully implement the ACE system," the group said in the letter (here). The letter also includes a list of what the NCBFAA considers to be criteria for a successful implementation date.
The CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations has “grave concerns” about the ongoing pilot of Food and Drug Administration filing in the Automated Commercial environment, it said in a memo posted to the CBP website Nov. 2 (here). FDA is “not piloting reality,” instead testing an artificial process where importers must go through multiple steps to pre-validate shipment data, said the memo, which also detailed PGA filing issues related to the other agencies. With the Feb. 28 mandatory date for FDA filing fast approaching, FDA “needs to pilot real data in order to adequately identify issues and test the success of their ACE deployment,” said the COAC.
CBP should “lock down” Automated Commercial Environment business rules, implementation guides, and record layouts for all partner government agencies (PGAs), allowing no additional changes prior to the February 2016 ACE mandatory use date in order to give filers time to implement and test PGA programming, said the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) in a recommendation adopted at the group’s Oct. 29 meeting. “The agencies have had enough time to finalize their layouts,” said the recommendation, put forward by the COAC One U.S. Government at the Border (1USG) committee. “Importers and filers need to be afforded the same courtesy, in terms of having adequate time to complete and test their own programming.”
CBP will release a new version of the Automated Commercial Environment Reports user interface on Oct. 31, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). "CBP will update ACE Reports to include a new home page, a more intuitive navigational structure, and a revised training resources page," it said. The update will be the first in a series of enhancements to ACE Reports, "with a full cutover to the new ACE Reports structure scheduled for completion" by Dec. 7, it said.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – CBP’s partner government agency (PGA) filing pilots in the Automated Commercial Environment are still hampered by a lack of participants, said Steve Hilsen, leader of International Trade Data System efforts at CBP, speaking at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade Northeast Cargo Symposium on Oct. 27. Some PGAs are “ready to roll” with their pilot programs, but have yet to attract a single volunteer, he said.
With major changes ahead for CBP’s national permitting scheme, licensed customs brokers are increasingly concerned with the prospects for the profession, said several brokers in interviews. The expansion of remote location filing on national permits to all entry types and government agencies, set to occur by the end of 2016 alongside full implementation of the Automated Commercial Environment, could allow brokerages to employ a single licensed individual to qualify all of their customs business. Brokers have been active in voicing concerns that such an outcome could undermine compliance and make customs brokering a less attractive profession, but have yet to find a solution acceptable to CBP.