CBP Says 13 Ports Have Begun Using M1 for Rail & Sea Manifests

December 20, 2011 by Marie Rapport|Customs and Ports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that 13 CBP ports have started to process rail and sea manifests in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The pilots for e-Manifest: Rail and Sea (M1), which began in November 2011, focus on transitioning full rail and sea manifest capability to ACE from the legacy Automated Manifest System of ACS.

(On December 5, CBP deployed the ACE M1 pilot at three ports: Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; and Brownsville, TX. CBP plans to announce the decommissioning of AMS for rail and sea manifest in the Federal Register after the successful completion of the pilot and the acceptance of ACE as the replacement system for rail and sea manifests.)

During Pilots CBP to Operate in both ACE and ACS

During the pilots, CBP's news release states that the agency will operate rail and sea manifest in both ACE and the Automated Commercial System (ACS) to allow trade partners ample time to implement the required programming changes prior to the decommissioning of ACS for rail and sea manifest. The pilots also allow for a smooth data transition from the legacy system.

CBP to Announce Decommissioning of AMS After Operational Acceptance of M1

The release states that CBP plans to announce the decommissioning of the legacy system for rail and sea manifest through the Federal Register after the successful completion of the test and the acceptance of ACE as the replacement system for rail and sea manifests. The notice will commence a six-month timeframe in which ACE will become the only CBP-approved electronic data interchange through which rail and sea manifests may be transmitted.

"Trade Phase" and "CBP Port Phase" of Pilots

Note that in documents issued in advance of the December 7, 2011 COAC meeting, CBP stated that there is a (1) trade phase of the M1 pilots for early trade adopters to migrate to ACE (14 were certificated for participation, 11 had started testing, and 12 had planned to test) and a (2) CBP port phase of the M1 pilots (which began for the ports of Baltimore, Buffalo and Brownsville) where CBP officers at ports have begun using M1 instead of ACS. COAC update available here

(See ITT's Online Archives 11121213 for summary of CBP's Timeline for Decommissioning AMS for Rail and Sea. See ITT's Online Archives 11120215 for summary of CBP beginning its deployment of the ACE M1 pilot (for the CBP port phase) to Baltimore, Buffalo, and Brownsville on December 5, 2011.)