An ongoing effort by CBP toward centralization of single transaction bond (STB) processing would eventually mean CBP ports would no longer be responsible for the manual review and approval of STBs, said Bruce Ingalls, director of the Revenue Divisions in the CBP Office of Administration. Ingalls and others discussed the planned changes during a National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America Webinar on Dec. 12. The update would allow the agency to better protect revenue through improved enforcement of STB requirements before cargo release, he said. The new system will allow STBs to be electronically transmitted to CBP as part of the entry process through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), the agency previously said in June while outlining the idea at the Port of Boston (see 13070120).
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 will open its test of the Participating Government Agency (PGA) Message Set in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) on Jan. 13, the agency said in a notice. The two-year pilot marks a step toward the "single window" concept, meant to allow for importers to submit all required information to all necessary agencies at once. The pilot will only allow for the submission of certain Environmental Protection Agency (PGA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) import data to CBP.
CBP posted documents related to phase two of its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release test. Scheduled to begin on Jan. 4 as part of ACE Deployment B, phase two will expand the Cargo Release test to the ocean and rail environments. CBP posted updates to two ACE Automated Broker Interface (ABI) CATAIR chapters related to the test. The agency in November expanded eligibility for the pilot, which was formerly known as Simplified Entry, by no longer requiring customs brokers and importer self-filers have Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) status (see 13110115).
CBP posted new CATAIR (Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements) as part of the entry summary validations recently added to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), the agency said in CSMS message. The CATAIR information (here) relates to a new validation capability meant to make sure an importer's estimated duty conforms to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule when filing entries in ACE (see Ref:13111418).
CBP added "Simple Duty Calculation Validations" on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Entry Summary on Nov. 13, the agency said in a CSMS message. The validations ensure "that an Entry Summary is not accepted in ACE if the importer's estimated duty does not conform to the rates and rules as specified in the [Harmonized Tariff Schedule]," it said. The CSMS message (here) lists the disposition codes and condition text will be used in the response messages from ACE.
CBP "successfully deployed" its first round of new Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) functionality, called ACE Deployment A, the agency said in a CSMS message. The deployment, originally scheduled for Oct. 5, was pushed to Nov. 2 due to the government closure (see 13102419). New capabilities in the ACE update include ACE Reports Software Upgrade, ACE Cargo Release Pilot Expansion, Partner Government Agency Message Set, and Entry Summary Validations for tariff classification and Harbor Maintenance Fees (see 13092719)
Customs brokers and importer self-filers in CBP's Simplified Entry pilot will no longer be required to have Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) status to test the program, CBP said in a notice. The agency is expanding the pilot program and officially rebranding it as the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release test, said CBP.
CBP released the agenda for the Nov. 15 meeting with the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) in Washington, D.C. CBP also said the meeting will be available online and registration is available (here).
CBP will deploy a number of new features Nov. 2 for the Automated Commercial Environment, the agency said in a CSMS message. The features were originally planned to be put in place Oct. 5 but were postponed as a result of the government shutdown (see 13100712). New capabilities in the ACE update were to include ACE Reports Software Upgrade, ACE Cargo Release Pilot Expansion, Partner Government Agency Message Set, and Entry Summary Validations (see 13092719). CBP also updated an information notice to reflect the deployment date (here).
The Automated Commercial Environment is mistakenly showing the total manifest quantity for Foreign Trade Zone admissions, said CBP in a CSMS message. The problem is a display issue only and concurrences are being processed for the actual amount, said CBP. CBP said it is looking into the problem.