CBP Planning DIS Test for ACE Participants

U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to conduct a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test allowing Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) participants to submit official documents via the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Importers and Brokers will be allowed to submit CBP and specified Participating Government Agency (PGA) forms to CBP in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, in lieu of conventional paper methods. The test will be known as the Document Image System (DIS) Test. Only importers or brokers using ACE for entry summary files will be eligible to participate. DIS document submission rules are on page five, and a list of documents supported within the first phase of the test are on page six. The document doesn't mention the DIS "Export Manifest" pilot.

Authorized CBP and PGA users will have the ability to access document images submitted by trade participants via a user interface, which will allow CBP and PGA users to select specific documents for review, to change the status of documents, and to add comments based on the current state of their review. Subsequent deployment phases of DIS will extend the functionality developed in this first phase to other CBP and PGA systems. The latter phases will incorporate additional forms into DIS and provide new interfaces for integration of DIS with other systems in CBP and other government agencies. The exact dates and content of subsequent phases of DIS have not yet been determined but will be announced in the Federal Register when set.

(FR 04/06/12)