CBP Lists ACE Benefits by Industry (Broker, Importer, Etc.) as Requested by COAC

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has listed the trade benefits for participants in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) by industry segment. Specific benefits are listed for Customs brokers, importers, self-filers, sureties, carriers, trade account owners (TAOs), as well as all users with portal accounts, for (1) ACE Secure Data Portal, (2) Periodic Monthly Statement, (3) ACE Reports, (4) Entry Summary Filing, (5) Post Summary Corrections, (6) e-Manifest: Truck and (7) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea.

According to CBP, this list was issued at the request of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC).

Sample of the listed benefits include:

ACE Portal Benefits for Importers and Brokers

Benefits both importers and customs brokers receive from using the ACE Secure Data Portal include (see notice for the benefits unique to each, as well as those for other industry segments):

• Electronically respond to CBP Forms 28, 29 and 4647, “Request for Information,” “Notice of Action” and “Notice to Mark or Redeliver” respectively, as well as attach documents via the ACE Portal. Note that brokers cannot view their courtesy copy of forms sent to the importer via the ACE Portal.
• Create 5106 records via the ACE Portal.
• Link from the ACE Portal to the ISF (Importer Security Filing) Portal and request ISF reports.
• Search, display and print AD/CVD case information and AD/CVD messages. Users can 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”).
• Create blanket declaration records such as the Non-Reimbursement Blanket Statement (AD/CVD) and North American Free Trade Agreement Certificate or Origin via the ACE Portal. Once created the declaration record can be viewed nationally by CBP.

ACE Report Benefits for Importers and Brokers

Benefits both importers and customs brokers receive from the ACE Reporting tool include the ability to (see notice for those unique to each, as well as those for other industry segments):

• Create up to 125 customizable reports on specific compliance, transactional, liquidation, and financial data.
• Identify unauthorized filers.
• Proactively monitor trade compliance and identify discrepancies.
• Monitor and check the accuracy of periodic monthly statements.
• Review entry summary data.
• Schedule Authorized Data Extracts to view large volumes of data.

CBP also states that ACE Reports also provide near real time access to CBP data. Specifically:

• CBP updates periodic monthly statement data hourly.
• CBP updates BOL, in-bond, manifest, equipment and party data in the Trade Reporting sub-folder every two hours.
• CBP updates the following types of data nightly: Entry and entry summary, Truck carrier transaction, Bond, and Rail and sea manifest.
• CBP updates compliance data monthly for importers and brokers.
• ACE Reports can be customized and designed to fit companies’ business needs. Customized reports can be saved so that they can be run as needed with an updated date range.
• ACE Reports can also be scheduled to run at the date, time and frequency of the user’s choosing.
• Sharing customized ACE reports will be a new capability that allows reports to be shared with all users within the ACE account who have access to reports.

ACE Entry Summary Benefits for Brokers

CBP states that ACE entry summary filing allows the filing of 99% of all entry summaries through ACE, and that consumption (entry type 01), informal (entry type 11) and antidumping/countervailing duty (entry type 03) summaries can be filed. According to CBP, brokers that file entry summaries in ACE have the following benefits:

• Ability to run the ACE Entry Summary query and receive more information that currently available from the Automated Commercial System (ACS).
• Ability to provide a preemptive Census override when filing the entry summary or to override a Census warning via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) after filing the entry summary.
• Ability to email a Single Transaction Bond (STB) to CBP for an ACE entry summary.
• Ability to provide AD/CVD Non-reimbursement statement indicator as part of the AE record transmitted.
• Ability to customize reports to include more data objects than are available in Account Management reports.
• Improved accuracy of data from ACE reports for entry summaries filed in ACE.
• Access to new reports for ACE filed entry summaries only.

List available here.

(CSMS #12-0000960, dated 03/20/12)