Participation in FDA ACE Pilot Up Since Filing Requirements Relaxed

Participation in the Food and Drug Administration’s Automated Commercial Environment pilot continues to build, according to statistics given by FDA officials. Over 8,000 entries have been filed since the pilot began Aug. 19, up from 1,000 one month ago and 200 in early November (see 1511040067), representing 20,000 entry lines. Over 200 filers are now participating. FDA recently relaxed its requirements for filing in pilot, eliminating the need to prevalidate shipment data before sending it through ACE (see 1512110027). Sandy Abbott and Jessica Aranda, both of FDA’s Division of Compliance Systems, gave the update during a Jan. 19 webinar on the data elements required for filing entries of food in ACE.