CBP in Discussions With Trade Community on ACE Deadline Contingency Plans

CBP is working on contingency plans for any disruptions that arise on its Feb. 28 mandatory use date for the Automated Commercial Environment, said Maria Luisa Boyce on Jan. 20 at a meeting of the Commerce Department’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness. The agency has set up a call with the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations on Jan. 21 so the COAC can provide guidance on plans for several areas, she said. COAC stressed the importance of contingency plans for the ACE deadline at a meeting held earlier this month (see 1601140031).

Currently, cargo release filing rates are “trending towards 25 percent,” said Boyce. CBP’s latest report on ACE adoption rates from December put the cargo release submission rate at 13.5 percent, though a CBP official said at the Jan. 13 COAC meeting that the submission rate was more recently closer to 20 percent. Some 92 percent of filers are associated with a software vendor that is piloting the Food and Drug Administration’s PGA message set or ready to pilot, said Boyce.

A problem the trade community is facing “on a day-to-day basis” is the lack of knowledge about ACE from CBP officials at the ports, said Melzie Wilson of Mallory Alexander International Logistics. “We’re now 20 some-odd working days from … D-Day,” and “we’re not getting the support we need, not by neglect, but just by a lack of knowledge of our local ports,” she said. Boyce replied that, though CBP has completed training for its field officers in “all the basic areas,” it is still not “100 percent there.” CBP is focused on training its employees, particularly at ports of entry, she said.