CBP Adds Combined ISF and Entry Filing to ACE Cargo Release Pilot
CBP announced it is testing a new “combined filing” feature in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release pilot, in a notice (here). The new feature will allow eligible importers and brokers to file both entry and Importer Security Filing (ISF) data in a combined transmission to CBP, it said. Testing of combined filing is set to begin Feb. 10, and will run until Nov. 1, 2015, when the ACE Cargo Release pilot is scheduled to end.
Eligibility. Combined filing is available for ISF Importers under 19 CFR 149.1 that are either: (1) a self-filing importer or broker, with the ability to file ACE entry summaries certified for cargo release; or (2) a self-filing importer or broker, who has stated his or her intent to file entry summaries in ACE in its request to participate in the test. Participants must use a software package that has completed Automated Broker Interface (ABI) certification testing for ACE and offers the ACE Cargo Release message set.
For importers or brokers that already participate in the ACE Cargo Release test, combined submissions may be filed after notifying their ACE account representative. Importers and brokers that do not yet participate in Cargo Release but want to use combined filing must request to participate in the test and provide their filer code to CBP and identify the ports at which they are interested in filing their combined ACE Cargo Release and ISF data.
PGA entries not available. Entries requiring Partner Government Agency (PGA) information and certification from entry summary are not available for combined filing “at this time,” said CBP. Additionally, because ISF is only required for cargo transported by ocean vessel, only ocean mode is eligible for combined filing, it said.
Additional data elements. The following additional data elements will be required to submit a combined filing, on top of data elements already required for ACE Cargo Release:
- Ship to party
- Container stuffing location
- Consolidator (stuffer)
Timeframes. Brokers and importers using combined filing will have to follow timelines currently in place for ISF, including the requirement that data is transmitted no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden at the foreign port. Importers and brokers will not be able to use flexible ISF filing provisions that allow for an initial submission of four data elements based on the best data available and a subsequent update. “This limitation is necessary because the Cargo Release information will be used by CBP to make determinations regarding the admissibility of imported merchandise,” said the agency.
(CBP also said it is changing the name of one of the data elements required for ACE Cargo Release from “Buyer Employer Identification Number (consignee number)” to “Consignee Number.” See the notice for more details.)
(Federal Register 02/10/15)