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ACE Cargo Release Processes Document Planned for May, Some APHIS Filing Could Create Issues, Say CBP Officials

April 27, 2015 |Top News

CBP plans to provide an outline of cargo release processes within the Automated Commercial Environment on May 15, said Steve Hilsen, lead executive of the Single Window Program Office at CBP. Hilsen and ACE Business Office Acting Director Deborah Augustin spoke about Single Window progress at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 22 in Orlando, Florida. Most of the Partner Government Agency functionalities will begin production as of June 27, though there will be some delay in adding non-Lacey Act capabilities for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Hilsen said. A CBP presentation included a number of "key dates" in preparation of the Nov. 1 requirement for electronic summary and entry filing in ACE (here).

The process and procedure document will serve as the "cornerstone" for both the trade and the agency's port personnel, said Hilsen. CBP is aware that there's some concern that some of the agency's employees will not be ready for the transition, he said. There's already been "extensive training" with the field personnel, but if industry members come across certain ports that seem to be behind, they should let CBP know, he said.

Another concern is for transactions that have more than one agency involved, said Hilsen. As a result CBP will "stage transactions" that involved multiple agencies to look at the "messaging" involved, he said. The planned transactions will include electronics, medical devices and automotive, said Hilsen. The intent is to have CBP, the PGAs and the trade watching the transactions so everyone involved will know what to expect, he said. CBP will meet with other agencies, port officials and the CEEs before and after the transactions to develop Business Process Documents, the agency said in the presentation.

The "vast majority" of agencies are well prepared to move forward in testing for ACE, said Hilsen. One potential issue will be with the non-Lacey Act filing capabilities, he said. "We have some challenges on the non-Lacey Act requirements in APHIS," he said. APHIS wasn't able to finish some necessary pieces in time for the planned June 27 deployment to make sure it can accept electronic submissions for some paper filing. In order to meet the ACE deadline of Nov. 1, "we're going to have a very short runway," with the agencies starting use of the APHIS filing in September, he said.

CBP is monitoring ACE usage rates closely, said Augustin. During March, only about 2.8 percent of entries were filed in ACE, while half of entry summaries were filed there, she said. A "customer satisfaction survey" over the winter showed large number of respondents planned to hold off on ACE usage, she said. Some 36 percent of filers and brokers intend to file at least 1 percent of filings in ACE by July, 32 percent said they would wait until October and another 32 percent would wait until November. All of the biggest 200 brokers are approved to file entries in ACE, though 45 of those have yet to filed an entry within ACE, she said.

There's a total of 15 agencies "that must be incorporated into ACE in order to meet the November 1 date for mandatory filing of entry and entry summaries," CBP said in the presentation. Those agencies are: