The ITDS Product Information Subcommittee’s Board of Directors has issued the final version of its guidance report discussing how global e-commerce data could be integrated into the decision-support process for government admission of products at international borders.
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.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the August, September, and October/November Trade Support Network monthly activity reports, which summarize the activity of all of the TSN Committees and Subcommittees for those months.
On December 7, 2010, Representative Brady (R), current Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee (and likely incoming Subcommittee Chairman) addressed the Chamber of Commerce’s "North American Competitiveness and the Global Supply Chain” Summit, focusing on pending free trade agreements and expiring preference programs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have recently been discussing CBP’s new Automated Commercial Environment Document Imaging System (DIS), which will provide electronic document submission, storage, and retrieval capabilities to CBP, Participating Government Agencies, and the trade.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a questions and answers document from its October 27, 2010 webinar providing an update on the Automated Commercial Environment.
The International Trade Data System has posted a report1 discussing how global e-commerce data could be integrated into the decision-support process for government admission of products at international borders. The report also states that pilots using such data for high-risk shipments began in the second half of 2010.
On November 9, 2010, the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) met in Washington, DC to discuss a variety of trade issues.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has provided further details of the Memorandum of Understanding between five federal agencies signed in October 2010 to improve targeting and enforcement efforts at CBP's Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC).
On October 27, 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and International Trade Data System officials held a webinar providing an update on the status of the Automated Commercial Environment.
In November 2009, the Department of Homeland Security Chief Information Officer conducted a complete review of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) program, and conducted a follow-up review as a part of a Screening IT Portfolio Review in July 2010.