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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 and the government determines admissibility.

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North America Moves Toward More Customs Cooperation
June 8, 2018 by Mara Lee|Customs

BALTIMORE -- There are some barriers to data sharing among NAFTA companies that would ease goods' flow across borders, but progress is steady, panelists said at the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference. Kim Campbell, founder of MKMarin, a Canadian trade services firm, said some of the problems with data sharing on Canadian exports is that Canada generally doesn't ask exporters to submit information if they're sending their goods to their southern neighbor. "We don’t actually collect export data into the United States," she said, and shipments from Canada to Mexico are often not tracked, either, because firms took advantage of the lack of reporting requirement for shipments south, as goods transited across the U.S.

FWS Clarifies Inspection Responsibilities for Shipments With Both Plants and Wildlife
June 4, 2018 |Other U.S.

The Fish and Wildlife Service recently clarified inspection requirements for shipments that include both plants and wildlife listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, whether or not CITES-listed. The April 16 policy bulletin, posted to the FWS website on May 31, clarifies the application of a 2016 agreement between FWS and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that allows FWS inspectors to validate such shipments, which has “led to some confusion as to which agency provides inspection,” FWS said.

Topics:Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
CBP Issues Harmonized System Update With Section 232 Tariffs, TTB Excise Tax Cuts
June 1, 2018 |Customs

CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1808 on May 31, containing 11,876 Automated Broker Interface records and 2,228 harmonized tariff records, it said in a CSMS message. Modifications include changes related to May 31 Presidential Proclamations for tariffs on steel and aluminum (see 1805310028), CBP said. "Regulations related to alcohol administered by [the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau] are included, and the ACE HTS has been updated to reflect these changes," CBP said. CBP was waiting for TTB guidance to implement excise tax cuts for beer, wine and distilled spirits that took effect Jan. 1 (see 1801190020).

Topics:Section 232 Tariffs
FWS Begins ACE PGA Message Set Pilot, to Conduct Initial Filings on Technical Calls
May 25, 2018 |Customs

The Fish and Wildlife Service partner government agency (PGA) message set pilot in ACE became available May 23 to filers with automated broker interface (ABI) software that have completed FWS testing in the ACE “certification” testing environment, CBP said in a CSMS message. Filers that wish to participate should send an email to FWS identifying the ports where they intend to participate, among other things. Initial filings in the pilot will involve a “technical trace” call with FWS and CBP personnel “at a mutually agreed upon time.” Following the call, FWS must approve the filer for the pilot for the filer to continue to file in the ACE production environment, CBP said. If at any time a filer wants to stop participating, it should contact FWS and CBP so they can be removed from the pilot database, the message said. FWS and CBP will review the results of the pilot 90 days after it starts before deciding whether to extend it.

Sen. Baldwin Introduces Bill to Fight Fake Organic Imports
May 24, 2018 |Congress

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced a bill meant to prevent "imports of fraudulent organic products that undercut American farmers," she said in a news release. The Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act would require that all National Organic Program Import Certificates include information on "the organic standard to which the agricultural product is certified," among other things. The bill would also require the Agriculture Secretary to create a system to track organic import certificates, which may be added "into any existing information tracking systems for imports of agricultural products." The Agriculture Department would also have to publicly release "detailed quantitative data on imports of organically produced agricultural products accepted
into" the U.S.. The legislation also calls for information sharing between ACE and the Hypomania Certificate Issuance and Tracking System of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The bill follows industry concerns and press reports related to cheap imports improperly labeled as organic (see 1705150031).