CBP announced it is testing a new “combined filing” feature in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release pilot, in a notice (here). The new feature will allow eligible importers and brokers to file both entry and Importer Security Filing (ISF) data in a combined transmission to CBP, it said. Testing of combined filing is set to begin Feb. 10, and will run until Nov. 1, 2015, when the ACE Cargo Release pilot is scheduled to end.
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.
CBP will expand its test of the Participating Government Agency (PGA) Message Set in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to include some additional electronic filings required by the Environmental Protection Agency, said CBP in a notice (here). CBP said the test will allow for electronic filings of EPA Notices of Arrival (NOA) of Pesticides and Devices. The new capability will satisfy the EPA requirements for formal and informal consumption entries, the agency said. The updated pilot will begin no earlier than April 15, it said.
CBP will allow non-automated facilities to release cargo based on-screen printouts from filers, said CBP on Jan. 26 (here). The change, made "on an interim basis," is meant to help with the transition to a paperless environment through the Automated Commercial Environment Cargo Release program, said CBP. CBP also released a list of cargo release capabilities by mode (here).
The Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking importers, exporters and customs brokers for participation in a pilot program to test the filing of FWS-required documents through the Automated Commercial Environment. Like other agencies, FWS is required under the Obama administration’s single window initiative to transition its cargo release functions to ACE’s PGA message set by Nov. 1. At that time, ACE filers will be required to file FWS data electronically through ACE using the Automated Broker Interface, rather than using eDecs or paper, said the agency in a public bulletin issued Jan. 26 (here).
The Food Safety and Inspection Service recently posted a letter (here) to importers with information on the agency’s transition to electronic filing of import inspection applications through the participating government agency (PGA) message set in the Automated Commercial Environment. FSIS issued a final rule in September (see 14091910), in part to facilitate its transition to electronic filing. Compliance with the rule is required by March 18. In the letter, FSIS said it is “important for importers and brokers to begin adopting and participating” in electronic import processes, “which will help ensure that FSIS meets the goals and deadlines” of the Obama administration’s single window initiative. “FSIS strongly encourages importers and brokers to work together closely in meeting FSIS import requirements,” it said.
CBP processed $2.4 trillion in trade, up 4 percent from 2013, during 2014, said the Department of Homeland Security in a release of agency statistics (here). CBP also collected $34 billion in duties during 2014, up 2 percent from the previous year. CBP said it conducted more than 23,000 seizures of goods, with a total retail value of $1.2 billion, for intellectual property right violations. The agency also processed 25.7 million cargo containers, 4.5 percent more than in 2013, said CBP. DHS also notes that new capabilities within the Automated Commercial Environment has led to better accuracy of trade-submitted data and an increase in the number of entry summaries filed in ACE, rather than the legacy system, to over 40 percent. South Texas ports of entry also saw an increase in trade processing, said CBP in a separate release (here). CBP's Laredo Field Office processed a total of $162 billion in imports in fiscal year 2014, a 14 percent increase over the nearly $142 billion imports processed in FY 2013, the agency said.
CBP is requesting comments by March 27 for an existing information collection on Entry and Immediate delivery applications and Automated Commercial Environment Cargo Release. CBP proposes (here) to extend the expiration date of this information collection with a change in the burden hours resulting from the transition from Form 3461 to ACE Cargo Release.
The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) for CBP will next meet on Feb. 11 in San Francisco, CBP said in a notice (here). Recommendations for CBP on regulating customs brokers' collection of importer bona fides information are among the agenda items planned for the meeting. A COAC group previously put off making recommendations on the subject while the agency developed a proposal on a new Form 5106 (see 13111801). CBP proposed revisions to the form in October (see 14100815).
CBP provided guidance on how the agency will process vessel diversions between Seattle and Tacoma, in a CSMS message (here). CBP in the Area Port of Seattle will correct the port of unlading on entries for the diverted vessel at the filers request with minimal paperwork and it is not necessary to cancel entries, the agency said. CBP will also process cancellations for entries with minimal paperwork, if the filers request that method, it said. CBP will only correct entries after the carrier updates the port of unlading in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) for their bills of lading, said CBP. "Terminals may not see a release if a correction is processed by CBP prior to the ACE manifest corrections by the Carrier," it said.
CBP summarized the new features added to the Automated Commercial Environment after the most recent deployment on Jan. 3. The update includes new capabilities for manifest, cargo release, accounts and revenue and exports, CBP said in a CSMS message (here). CBP also added features "in support of the integration of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) into the Single Window," it said.