No Formal Recommendation for ACE Delay, Says CBP's Smith

CBP has not formally recommended any change to the planned mandatory use date for Automated Commercial Environment cargo release and entry summary filing, said Brenda Smith, CBP assistant commissioner for the Office of International Trade. "We have not made a formal recommendation to the White House today," said Smith in a July 30 interview. The top lobbyist for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America recently said CBP has gone to the White House with a recommendation to extend the Nov. 1 deadline by as much as six months, and is currently awaiting a response (see 1507290016).

Smith emphasized that the agency continues to monitor readiness, but any major changes would require other input. "I think we are not ready today to go to the White House and recommend anything different," she said. "We are constantly assessing and talking to our partners" and the agency is still committed to ensuring a smooth transition that doesn't disrupt trade, she said. A change to the ACE timeline would require approval from the White House, she said. "If there was a change in the approach, it would have to go through the White House," she said. Such a change "is not a CBP decision, this is something we would work within the interagency process to do," she said.

During opening remarks at the July 29 Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations meeting, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske also made clear that Nov. 1 is “still the goal.” The agency is “in constant communication with trade, with leadership within the department, with the Border Interagency Executive Council, certainly the White House, while we evaluate our timelines and examine our options,” he said.

The agency is closely tracking a number of readiness indicators, such as ACE-certified software vendors and the number of transactions, she said. "Some of the numbers are exactly where we want them to be and expect them to be and some of them are lower," she said. For example, she said the volume of cargo release transactions, "one of the numbers that we're really watching," fell some during June. That may be due to the problems with air manifest filings in ACE (see 1506230030), which required a shift in focus, she said. "One of the things that I have been really pleased about" is the percentage of filers that have filed for cargo release in ACE, she said. That number went from 10 percent in May to 14 percent in June, she said.