CBP Ranks its ACE Priorities, No Funding Yet for Summary Edits and Priority Fixes
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its ranking of priority ACE projects, including those that are in the works and planned. According to CBP, the development of DIS, PGA Message Set, PGA Interoperability, and some Export work is fully funded and Cargo Release/Simplified Entry is partially funded. After that, unless future funding is available for the continuous development of new capacities, ACE development work will cease.
(This information is contained in the new monthly "ACEopedia," which also lists the deployed Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) capabilities and their dates as (1) ACE Secure Data Portal (2003), (2) Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS) (2004) , (3) e-Manifest Truck (2007), (4) ACE Entry Summary (2009), (5) Post Summary Corrections (PSC) (2010), Importer Security Filing (ISF) (2009, with the link to ACE delivered in 2011).
Agency Has been Devoting Resources to M1, but Should be Going Beyond that Soon
The agency's top priority is ACE e-manifest (rail and sea). According to CBP officials that spoke at the February 2012 COAC meeting, the agency has been focusing all development resources on M1 until its completion, which is targeted for March 2012. CBP will then start the 6-month transition period that will lead to the decommissioning of the ACS Automated Manifest System (AMS) for rail and sea manifests at the end of September 2012.
Ranked ACE Priorities and Work Plan
In the ACEopedia and in color (here) is CBP's table of ACE Priorities and Work Plan. In its seven categories of work, CBP has completed projects in two categories to date (Manifest and Entry Summary).
CBP's completed ACE projects are in italicized text below, while Priority projects and their ranking (1 - 5) are in bold. Projects that are remaining for ACE completion are in normal text.
| Category | Functionality |
| Manifest | e-Manifest: Truck |
| Delivery of ACE e-Manifest: Rail and Sea (Rank 1) | |
|---|---|
| Air Manifest | |
| Integration of Multi-Modal Manifest | |
| Vessel Management System | |
| Cargo Release | Simplified Entry Phase 1 (Rank 2A) |
| Document Image System (Rank 2B) | |
| PGA Message Set (Rank 2C) | |
| PGA Interoperability (Rank 2D) | |
| Future phases to build upon delivered functionality for ultimate full delivery of cargo release (Rank 2E) | |
| Entry Summary | ACE Accounts and Reports |
| Periodic Monthly Statement | |
| Entry Summary Filing for Consumption and Informal Entries | |
| Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Entry Filing and Processing | |
| Post Summary Corrections | |
| Entry Summary Edits (Rank 3) | |
| Remaining Entry Summary types and processing | |
| Mail Entry Writing System | |
| Importer Activity Summary Statement/Simplified Summary | |
| Drawback | |
| Reconciliation | |
| Protest | |
| Entry liquidation | |
| Exports | Exports (Rank 5) |
| Financial | Integration of all financial capabilities within ACE |
| Operations/Maintenance | Priority fixes (Problem Reports) (Rank 4) |
| Ongoing fixes and enhancements to deployed functionality | |
| Rehosting efforts for ACS | |
| Rehosting efforts for AES | |
| Reducing cost of O & M | |
| Transition to the target architecture & open standards | |
| SEI assessment & integration planning | |
| Other | System Migration (LIMS, SEACATS, etc.) |
Progress Update on DIS, PGA Work, and Export Manifest
CBP's ACEopedia also provided updates on the work on e-Manifest Rail and Sea (M1), Cargo Release (including DIS, PGAs, and Simplified Entry), and Exports.
With respect to the Document Image System (DIS), CBP expects to publish a notice in the March-April timeframe that authorizes the initiation of a DIS Pilot that allows the trade to transmit scanned documents. Two participating government agencies (PGAs) -- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Services (EMFS) -- have volunteered to join in the CBP pilot test in 2012.
CBP also states it plans to test Simplified Entry (SE) for formal and informal consumption entries in the air transportation mode only, and has selected nine brokers to participate in that test. In addition, PGA Interoperability is being used by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and additional PGA information exchange capabilities are continuing to be developed. The PGA Message Set is planned to be delivered as a part of the Simplified Entry Phase II/Cargo Release capability.
With respect to ACE for exports, a contract to begin the initial work on a draft Concept of Operations (CONOPs) and Operational Requirements Document (ORD) was issued late December 2011. Meetings have begun and have first concentrated on the electronic export manifest “to be” process. The CONOPs and ORD are scheduled for completion in FY2012.
An Automated Export Manifest pilot using the Document Image System (DIS) capability was scheduled to begin March 15, 2012 at five ports (Norfolk, VA; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Brunswick, GA and Wilmington, NC). Fourteen pilot test carriers, representing fifty-six percent of the total containerized U.S. export volume, and including the top three U.S. export carriers, have volunteered to participate in this pilot. (The pilot's start date is now March 26; see here.)
New ACE Development Funded in FY 2012 from Carry over Dollars
In fiscal year (FY) 2012, the ACE program entered into the Operations & Maintenance phase with no funding for additional development. The program is using carry-over dollars (from prior years) for development work on the following initiatives:
- Cargo Release/Simplified Entry (partially funded)
- CBP ITDS Priorities -- Document Image System (DIS), PGA Message Set, and PGA Interoperability
- Requirements efforts for Exports and to begin development of Exports
Unless future funding is available for continuous development of new capabilities, CBP states that development work will cease.
(The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is a multi-year project to modernize Customs’ processes, and will become the “single window” for all trade and government agencies involved in importing and exporting. ACE has been underway for over 10 years.
The March 2012 ACEopedia contains sections titled: Executive Summary, ACE overview and business case, ACE deployed capabilities, ACE program priorities, e-Manifest rail and sea (M1), cargo release, exports, ACE budget/financial status, and three frequently asked questions. This monthly ACEopedia format seems to replace the monthly ACE Update.)