The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is seeking participants for its pilot on electronic submission in the Automated Commercial Environment of information required by APHIS Animal Care, Biotechnology and Regulatory Services, Plant Protection and Quarantine, and Veterinary Services, it said (here). Through the pilot, which APHIS says will begin “no earlier than Oct. 2,” APHIS and CBP will test filing in ACE through APHIS’ Partner Government Agency (PGA) message set and the Document Imaging.
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.
CBP posted the recording (here) and presentation (here) from a Sept. 17 webinar on Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) export. "This webinar provided the trade community with information on how to apply for a new Exporter account in the ACE Secure Data Portal and run trade export reports," said CBP in a CSMS message (here). "CBP and the U.S. Census Bureau also discussed details about the transition of AESDirect export commodity filing capabilities to the ACE Portal, scheduled to be deployed later this year."
CBP moved up the deployment date for Foreign Trade Zone entries in the Automated Commercial Environment following some initial concerns about adequate time for testing, said Cynthia Whittenburg, CBP executive director-trade policy and programs during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America government affairs conference on Sept. 28. CBP previously said FTZ entries wouldn't be available for testing until after Feb. 27, alongside all other quota-related entry types that are scheduled to be deployed on the same day that ACE becomes mandatory. That plan raised some concerns among the Trade Support Network (see 1509100015).
The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) for CBP will next meet Oct. 29 in Washington, CBP said in a notice (here).
CBP posted minutes of the meeting held July 29 by the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) (here). The meeting included a lengthy discussion of COAC’s recommendation to delay CBP’s deadline for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) cargo release and entry summary (see 1507290066).
Trade Support Network leadership issued recommendations to CBP in recent days that the agency allow live filing of quota and quota-related entry types in the Automated Commercial Environment in advance of CBP’s Feb. 28 mandatory use date, said Tom Gould, co-chair the TSN Trade Leadership Council’s Integrated Communications Subcommittee. CBP’s current plan to deploy ACE capabilities for quota-related entry types only after the legacy Automated Commercial System is switched off has TSN leadership “quite concerned” about the lack of time for live industry testing of several entry types, including foreign-trade zone entries, said Gould.
CBP will begin a test of rail cargo manifest filing for exports within the Automated Commercial Environment, the agency said in a notice (here). The voluntary test will require participants to submit export data electronically at least two hours before loading, the agency said. Currently, CBP requires no paper or electronic manifest for rail cargo. The pilot will begin by Oct. 9, and is scheduled to last for two years, said CBP.
CBP’s recent delay of some mandatory use dates for the Automated Commercial Environment elicited a sigh of relief from the trade community, but much work remains to ensure a smooth transition, said customs brokers and software developers in recent interviews. The new staged approach, with deadlines in February and July 2016, gives the trade the time it needs to successfully migrate to ACE. However, familiar problems with quota-related entry types and still-unreleased software requirements by CBP and other agencies will remain hurdles to be overcome as ACE implementation continues over the coming year.
Despite the recent delay in required use dates for the Automated Commercial Environment (see 1509010017), CBP will still only allow one day for live testing of several entry types, according to a new agency deployment schedule (here). The 11 entry types that may include quota merchandise -- including foreign-trade zone and warehouse entries and withdrawals -- will not be deployed until Feb. 27, according to the schedule.
CBP posted additional details on the agency's recently revised plans for transitioning to the Automated Commercial Environment (here). CBP decided to push back some of the mandatory use dates for ACE in response to readiness concerns for the system (see 1509010017). As part of the updated schedule, beginning Feb. 28, ACE will be required for electronic entries and entry summaries, as well as for Food and Drug Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Lacey Act data.