ACE (Automated Commercial Environment)

ACE — emphasis and participation growing

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

As reported in American Shipper, the number of entries filed in ACE (as opposed to ACS, which is being phased out), has increased from 1% to 3% as of November 2011, a small yet signficant jump. This is no doubt due to recent ACE enhancements, as well as the growing encouragement by CBP, and National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, for the trade to transition to filing entries in the ever-improving ACE.

US Customs’s emphasis on ACE is quite apparent from the agency’s 2011 ACE Wrap-up:

January

CBP hosted a Webinar for brokers and importers on Working with ACE Forms and Declarations

February

CBP deployed fixes to AD/CVD Messages and the Entry Summary Universe report dates

April

CBP made a security update to the ACE Portal discontinuing the use of SSL  protocol while maintaining the use of the TLS protocol
CBP hosted the 2011 Trade Symposium

May

A revised version of the Entry Summary Business Rules and Process Document  was posted to CBP.gov

June

The first PSC entry summary was filed successfully in ACE production
A draft version of the PGA Message Set was posted to CBP.gov CBP successfully  deployed Post Summary Corrections
An updated version of the Post Summary Corrections Web Based Training was  made available to the trade

July

A link was provided from the ACE Portal to the Importer Security Filing (ISF) Portal for accounts to receive their monthly ISF Progress Reports
CBP began sharing data from the ACE Truck e-Manifest system with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

August

e-Manifest: Rail and Sea Web Based Training was made available to the trade
CBP successfully deployed ACE e-Manifest: Rail and Sea

September

CBP hosted a Webinar for brokers and importers on Post Summary Corrections
Mandatory use of post summary corrections for entry summaries file in ACE
CBP delivered the new Courtesy Notice of Liquidation Report
CBP hosted the Trade Support Network Plenary session

October

CBP hosted a Webinar for importers on the Courtesy Notice of Liquidation report

November

CBP began successfully accepting ocean manifests from trade participants in ACE

December

CBP began successfully accepting rail manifests from trade participants in ACE
Officers at Baltimore, Brownsville, and Buffalo began using
ACE M1 for all ocean  and rail processing
CBP hosted a Webinar for rail and sea carriers on ACE portal navigation
CBP hosted a Webinar for rail and sea carriers, brokers and importers on running  the new Multi-Modal Manifest Reports

The America Shipper article, “ACE participation picks up,” can be found here. (site registration required). The ACE wrap-up, and other ACE related news, are available in CBP’s December 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner Update.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, Direct Filing, e-Manifest | Add Comment »

e-Manifest: Rail and Sea – CBP continues the migration to ACE

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

As part of its concentrated effort to make ACE the single system for Customs’ EDI transactions, US Customs recently launched a pilot program to accept electronic rail and sea manifests via ACE. Building on the success of e-Manifest: trucks, CBP intends to run the pilot through approximately the end of the 3^rd quarter of 2012.

Until that time, CBP will accept rail and sea manifests in both ACE and ACS “to allow trade partners ample time to implement the required programming changes prior to the decommissioning of ACS for rail and sea manifests.” At the conclusion of the pilot, ACS will be phased out for this purpose, and ACE will be the only CBP-approved EDI through which rail and sea manifests may be transmitted. Watch for Federal Register notices in the coming months for updates.

Customs’ official notice of the pilot is available here.

On a related note, now that the pilot has launched, users may now run Multi-Modal Manifest Reports in ACE. To that end, on Thursday, December 15, US Customs will offer a free webinar for the trade on running the MMM reports. Learn more and register here.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, Webinars, e-Manifest | Add Comment »

ISF progress reports – how to access

Monday, November 28th, 2011

US Customs has announced that it will no longer be emailing ISF Progress Reports after the December 2011 reports. Rather, recipients can continue to access the reports through the ACE Secure Data Portal.

The full notice, which can be found here, includes a link to set up a free ACE Portal Account.

Posted in ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), ISF, News | Add Comment »

Simplified entry pilot – apply by November 17

Monday, November 14th, 2011

As reported in our blog post of October 4, US Customs is launching a simplified entry process pilot program. To that end, the agency is seeking applicants for the pilot, and has extended the deadline by which to apply for the pilot through midnight (EST), Thursday, November 17.

Applicants interested in participating must submit an email to cbpsimplifiedprocess@dhs.gov with the subject heading “Simplified Entry Participant Request,” and must include information regarding estimated volume of entries anticipated to be filed under the pilot, and the identity of the ports where filings are likely to occur. Additional information is available in November 9th’s Federal Register.

CBP hopes to simplify the entry process by allowing participants to submit 12 required and three (3) optional data elements to CBP at any time prior to the arrival of the merchandise on the conveyance transporting the cargo to the United States. This data will fulfill merchandise entry requirements and will allow for earlier release decisions and more certainty for the importer in determining the logistics of cargo delivery.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, Direct Filing, Federal Register Notices, Simplified Entry | 1 Comment »

On-demand webinar available for ACE courtesy notice of liquidation

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

If you missed US Customs’ October 12 live webinar on life after the termination of the paper courtesy of liquidation program (see our blog post), you may now watch it at your convenience.

Simply click here to view the webinar. The presentation provides helpful tips for imports — who rely on brokers to file their entries — to access ACE to run reports to determine liquidation status of those entries.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Post-Entry, Webinars | Add Comment »

Guidance for entry deletion and cancellation

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

US Customs recently updated its guidance on entry deletion and entry or entry summary cancellation to correct errors contained in the previous version.

An entry deletion refers to completely removing entry data from the system of record – either ACS or ACE. Conversely, entry or entry summary cancellation refers to “rendering entry summary data inactive” in the system of record, although CBP will retain the entry summary data for historical purposes.

Entry deletion may only be used in very limited circumstances, and may be requested only up until CBP cargo release processing occurs and the provisional release notification is system generated.
Once the processing has occurred, then entry or entry summary cancellation must be used. This encompasses situations such as where merchandise was denied admission by a PGA and either destroyed or exported, or where merchandised was seized at the port of entry.

The guidance also provides advice on requesting refunds of duties, fees and taxes on a cancelled entry summary, and discusses CBP policy on entry substitution and liquidated damages.

The guidance is available here.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection | Add Comment »

Merchandise fee for processing entries increases

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

On Friday, October 21, 2011, H.R. 2832 became law. The main purpose of the statute is to extend the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which expired on December 31, 2010, through July 31, 2013. However, to offset the estimated cost of lost tariffs associated with expanding the GSP benefits, H.R. 2832 increases US Customs’ merchandise fee for processing entries (Class Code 499) from 0.21% to 0.3464%.

Currently, Customs is modifying the Automated Broker Interface to accept the new rate, which will apply to entries filed via ACS and ACE between October 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014. CBP has indicated that it will provide the trade with one week’s notice before it is able to accept the new MPF rate.

Customs’ official notice regarding the rate increase can be found here.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, News | 1 Comment »

Highlights from the Trade Support Network (TSN) plenary session

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

The Trade Support Network (TSN), a group of trade representatives who provide input to US Customs for the design and development of modernization projects, such as ACE, met in Arlington, VA, for its plenary session last month. Following is a summary of the highlights of the meetings.

Overall Message

In the current economic state, TSN’s priority is to help US Customs drive down costs for both importers and CBP, such as less exams of cargo and simplified entry processing. CBP is under significant pressure from Congress to get ACE up-and-running in order to receive funding to complete the project. Customs must show that entries are being filed in ACE and parts of ACS are being turned off.

Agency Structure

Cindy Allen, formerly with the trade, joined CBP around 1 year ago and is in charge (Exec. Director, ACE Business Office, OIT). She is doing a fantastic job of getting ACE back on track and has a great understanding of how it’s going to work. She has a new boss in Allen Gina, a 29 year veteran of CBP, and a new Exec. Director, Cargo Systems and Program Office, OIT, in LindaJacksta. Rich DiNucci, who headed up 10+2, is also on the team now.

Post Summary Corrections

As reported in this blog on September 20, PSC functionality was delivered June 4, and it became mandatory to file PSCs instead ofPEAs effective last month. PSCs may be filed 270 calendar days from date of entry, but cannot be filed within 20 calendar days of the scheduled liquidation date. Filers can request “accelerated liquidation” to get a quick bill/refund but then will forfeit an opportunity to file another PSC. It’s a full-replace of the entry and CBP will maintain all versions of entries. Importers should ensure that their ABI applications also keep versions of the entry before filing PSCs in order to keep an adequate record of their transactions with CBP.

Additionally, when the PSC is filed, the entry goes into “customs status” and CBP will remove the scheduled liquidation date. Currently filers can query the entry to get some insight as to the status, but long term there will be a UC message to all filers associated with the entry detailing the status and new liquidation information. Most PSC’s filed to date (around 100) were a “pass through” meaning they did not require CBP involvement. Note to brokers: You should review your powers of attorney to make sure your clients haven’t limited your ability to file PSCs.

Cargo Release

For this project, there is a new approach to requirement gathering – A Concept of Operations (CONOPS) has been created and all requirements mapped back to the CONOPS. Currently they are detailing the system requirement, with input from the trade and CBP field offices. These functional requirements, and the functional decomposition should be completed by June 2012. The goal is to deploy a subset of functionality within the next 18 months (then turn off selectivity in ACS)

E-Manifest: Rail & Sea

Allows holds to be placed/removed at the conveyance, container, master bill level as well as the house bill of lading level. CBP will provide brokers with a “broker download” to assist in populating the entry header. Nine early adopters will begin filing their manifest in this new system in the coming weeks in 3 ports. ETA for full deployment is January 2012, then CBP will begin decommissioning AMS in ACE. This will enable true visibility on which PGA has held merchandise and the reason for the hold.

ACE Technical Discussion (Linda Jacksta)

Remaining In-Scope: E-Manifest, Cargo Processing and release, Remaining Entry Types, Collections (lots of emphasis), and Exports. Trying to leverage existing functionality with ACE or any other federal agency systems.

Entry Simplification

See our blog post of October 4 for details.

PGA Panel Discussion

FDA is replacing OASIS with MARCS at the end of this year. A component of MARCS is PREDICT which allows FDA to automatically validate AoC qualifiers. No more AoC codes will be required in ACE as they will be mapped based on the field definition. Filers will have better visibility to the status and can receive their Notice of Sampling via the system.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, FDA, News, Simplified Entry, e-Manifest | Add Comment »

Free importer webinar on ACE courtesy notice report

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

As discussed in this blog last month, with the termination of paper courtesy notices of liquidation program, CBP has reprogrammed ACE to allow an importer of record to establish its own ACE Portal Account to monitor entry filings made by a customs broker using the importer’s IOR number.

Now, Customs is offering guidance on running and managing these reports with a free webinar to be held next Wednesday, October 12 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM EST. Register for the webinar here.

For more information about the webinar, view US Customs’ official notice here.

Posted in ABI (Automated Brokerage Interface), ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, Events | 1 Comment »

Take the ACE user survey

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

US Customs is requesting that all ACE Portal users take a short customer satisfaction survey. This is an opportunity to provide feedback on what’s working and what needs improving in ACE.

The survey, which can be found here, will be available until October 19.

Posted in ACE (Automated Commercial Environment), Customs & Border Protection, e-Manifest | 1 Comment »