CBP Announces NCAP Test of Automated Truck Manifest For Truck Carrier Accounts

According to CBP, this is a test allows participating Truck Carrier Accounts to transmit electronic manifest data in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) (including advance cargo information as required by Section 343 of the Trade Act of 2002, as amended by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA)).

Truck carrier accounts that participate in this test will have the ability to electronically transmit the truck manifest data and obtain release of their cargo, crew, conveyances, and equipment via the ACE Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal) or electronic data interchange (EDI) messaging.

This is Part II, the final part of a two-part summary of this general notice and provides highlights CBP's description of the ATM test, data elements to be reported on the electronic manifest, etc. (See ITT's Online Archives or 09/14/04 news, 04091410, for Part I.)

Description of ATM Test

In its general notice, CBP describes the ATM test as follows:

Transmission of truck manifest and advance cargo data prior to arrival. Participants in the test of automated truck manifest functionality (ACE Release 4) are required to submit truck manifest data including advance cargo information at least one hour in advance of the arrival of the conveyance at the first U.S. port of crossing.

If, however, a participant is filing data via the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) prototype, information must be submitted at least 30 minutes prior to the arrival of the conveyance at the first U.S. port of crossing. This 30-minute or one-hour period will be measured from the time that CBP receives the final manifest submission.

Manifest data. For purposes of this test, a standard manifest consists of all of the CBP required data (listed in CBP's general notice) for the establishment of a truck manifest. This data includes advance cargo information as required by the Trade Act of 2002, as amended by the MTSA.

The data must be submitted either with each manifest submission or portions of this data can be drawn from data stored in the carrier's ACE account. Shipment information can be established in the ACE truck manifest system prior to its association with a specific trip, conveyance, equipment and crew. Conversely, information consisting of trip, conveyance, crew and equipment details can be submitted to ACE truck manifest prior to the submission of shipment details. In all cases, it is required that shipments match the trip to which they are associated.

A truck carrier will transmit manifest/cargo information and is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the data filed on the electronic manifest. An electronic truck manifest will list the applicable combination of trip, conveyance, equipment and shipment details. The Truck Carrier Account owner will also have the option of delegating the right to transmit the manifest data to a Portal User on its Account.

For purposes of the initial stages of the test, the ACE truck manifest system will accept information regarding the splitting of shipments covered by house bills or master bills. It will not support the splitting of shipments when part is covered by a house bill and part by a master bill. Also, if a transmitting party uses the ACE truck manifest for a conveyance arrival, it must be used for all shipments arriving on that conveyance.

Test processes supported. The test will support the following processes: (a) FAST; (b) Pre-Arrival Processing System (PAPS); (c) Border Release Advance Screening and Selectivity (BRASS); (d) Section 321; and (e) In-bond.

Automated release processes include transponder and proximity card technology that are utilized in conjunction with the automated truck manifest to facilitate timely releases while maintaining a high level of border security. Transponder and proximity cards must be used in the FAST process and are recommended, but not required, for all other processes (i.e., PAPS, BRASS, Section 321, and In-bond).

According to CBP, highlights of these test processes include (partial list)::

FAST - Participants choosing to use FAST may only use FAST with regard to any particular trip. FAST transmissions will remain unchanged in the initial stages of the test.

PAPS - a bar code used to report the Bill number will no longer be needed.

BRASS - new BRASS applications will not be entertained; only current BRASS users may use BRASS for the ATM test

Section 321 - in order to file a Section 321 entry, in addition to the required data elements listed in this general notice, the following information is required: country of origin of the merchandise and value.

In-Bond - a declaration can be made on the manifest transmission to provide the necessary in-bond data for the shipment destined for another port. Alternatively, the in-bond request can be made via the ACS electronic in-bond transaction QP/WP or presentation of Customs Automated Forms Entry System (CAFES) bar code. Export of in-bond shipments may be reported via ABI (QP/WP)

CBP Return Messages

According to CBP, its trip, conveyance, crew, and shipment status messages will be generated and sent to the carrier, after the conveyance has arrived and is processed at the first U.S. port of arrival.

12 Data Elements Required, 57 More Requested, One is Optional

On December 5, 2003, CBP issued a final rule outlining its advance electronic presentation of cargo information requirements, including required data elements. According to CBP, those twelve data elements are required for all processes in the initial stage of the test (except FAST) with some noted modifications (see general notice for complete details).

In addition, CBP states that for purposes of this test, 57 other data elements are requested (although not required pursuant to CBP's December 5, 2003 final rule).

CBP also lists one data element the submission of which is considered optional upon the discretion of the submitting party.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 08/18/04 news, 04081805, for BP summary of CBP's announcement of staggered compliance dates (November 15, 2004, December 15, 2004, and January 14, 2005, depending on port) for the mandatory advance electronic information requirements for inbound truck cargo. See ITT's 02/05/04 news, 04020510 for BP summary of CBP's February 4, 2004 general notice announcing its acceptance of applications to establish Truck Carrier Accounts for this NCAP test.)

• test will commence no earlier than November 29, 2004
• comments concerning general notice and all aspects of announced test may be submitted at any time during the test period

CBP contact - Thomas Fitzpatrick (Thomas.Fitzpatrick@dhs.gov)

CBP general notice (FR Pub 09/13/04) available at

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-20585.pdf.