CBP Lists Benefits of ACE Accounts for Brokers & Invites Sign Up

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a fact sheet inviting customs brokers to create and maintain a free Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal account and utilize the numerous ACE reports that are available. CBP states that an ACE portal account provides brokers with the ability to obtain monthly statements, make payments on behalf of their ACE and non-ACE clients, communicate with CBP, and track import activity in a single, comprehensive, account-based view.

The details of these benefits include the following:

Periodic Monthly Statement for Duties and Fees

• Offer monthly statement processing to qualified importers
• Pay for eligible shipments released during a month by the 15th working day of the following month for all your ACE accounts on either a national or a port monthly statement

Compliance, Transactional and Financial Data

• Access over 125 reports on company specific compliance, transactional and financial data
• Schedule large customized bulk data download reports
• Review CBP entry summary data in near real-time
• In the future share customized reports with all users within your account who have access to reports
• Access the link to the Importer Security Filing Portal to view filer ISF reports
• Review rail and sea manifest, bill and in-bond data refreshed every two hours

Broker Management

• Comply with 19 CFR 111 reporting responsibilities
• Maintain and update account information including demographic data, contacts and employee lists

Account Management

• View account information for clients with a single sign-on and password
• Attach electronic information to account, as deemed appropriate by CBP or the account owner
• Respond to a CBP Form 28, 29, and 4647 for both ACE and ACS entry summaries, on behalf of an importer who has granted access to his Portal account
• Transmit/correct a Census override for an ACE entry summary
• Create a declaration record on behalf of an importer who has granted access to his Portal account and/or create a declaration record for non-portal account clients
• Record and track the life cycle of an AD/CVD case by accessing important case information such as duty deposit rates, entry summary suspension status, bond / cash status, administrative review information and events related to the case history (e.g., “Initiation,” “Preliminary,” “Final,” “Order,” “Terminated”)
• Access AD/CVD messages with additional useful information in one easy location such as additional message header data elements (e.g., “message status,” “Federal Register Notice cite,” “Federal Register Notice publication date,” “court order number”)
• File entry summaries electronically in ACE for entry types 01, 03 and 11 using a better organized, more descriptive ACE ABI CATAIR and run an ABI Query of AD/CVD case information
• File Post Summary Corrections for ACE entry summaries
• Create entry banks via your ACE Portal account

Broker Fact Sheet (posted 12/14/11) available here.

Similar fact sheet for sureties and importers are also available (surety,importer).