CBP Sets Sept 29 Cutoff Date to Transition from AMS to ACE M1 for Ocean and Rail Cargo

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has set the deadline to cutover to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea (M1) for the submission of required advance information for ocean and rail cargo. In its public notice, CBP said it recently completed the testing of ACE M1, and, after a six-month transition period, ACE will be the only CBP-approved EDI for such information as of September 29, 2012.

The Automated Manifest System (AMS), will no longer be able to be used as of September 29, for advance ocean and rail information reporting purposes . Until this date, a transition period is in effect during which ACE or AMS may be used to transmit the required advance information for ocean and rail cargo.

To date, 24 trade participants have completed certification testing and are transmitting their advance ocean and rail cargo information in ACE, and another 11 are currently involved in certification testing, the notice said.

CBP said it has verified all electronic data interchanges are compatible with ACE, and has prepared ACE Implementation Guidelines, which include the appropriate standards for each referenced type of software to work with ACE.

CBP said it will continue to work with the trade community to assure a complete and efficient transition to ACE, and encourages all transmitters to undergo ACE certification. It said ACE will retain all the existing functionality, as well as new functionalities available only through ACE.

Further information: Susan.Maskell@dhs.gov

(See ITT's Online Archives 12032024 for summary stating that the trade should be preparing for the transition from ACS/AMS functionality to ACE M1.

See ITT's Online Archives 12032028 for summary stating of CBP's ranking of its ACE priorities, which notes that funding is not yet available for a number of ACE components.)

(FR Pub 03/29/12)