NCBFAA Says CBP Should Keep ACS as Fallback Following July 23 ACE Transition

The legacy Automated Commercial System should remain available for filers following the July 23 mandatory use date for most remaining entry types in ACE, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in a letter to CBP dated July 14 (here). Though CBP said it will begin decommissioning ACS on July 23 and the system will be unavailable as a backup (see 1605270002), ACS should remain available in cases of delays resulting from down time, slow processing or software issues, because costs to the trade community would be too great without the ACS fallback option, the NCBFAA said.

Keeping ACS online is especially important for land border shipments because of short lead times, said the NCBFAA. “Delays and downtime in the ocean environment and even in the air environment can be managed, unlike the land environment,” it said. “We understand the costs that CBP bears on the funding required to keep the Automated Commercial System running, however, we are concerned about the alternative exorbitant cost, specifically in the land environment, to the trade community when downtime and delayed processing occurs in ACE,” the NCBFAA said. “Hopefully, we will only rarely need to revert to using ACS, but the cost to trade is too great not to have this available.” CBP did not comment.

The letter also called on CBP to improve its communication with the trade community, particularly when issues crop up with ACE. “It is well understood that when standing up a new enterprise system, we should expect issues to occur, but many of these can be addressed using proper communication protocols,” the NCBFAA said. The trade community “has expressed great concern about the lack of communication from headquarters not only to CBP ports when ACE is either down or experiencing delayed processing, but also communication to the trade,” it said. “We continue to stress the need for CBP to communicate more effectively to the trade on downtime and delayed processing so steps can be taken to mitigate the risks and costs to the trade community.”

The NCBFAA subsequently reported that CBP is "aware" of industry concerns, and "will circulate a National Contingency Plan this week that is designed to address uncertainty associated with this action." CBP will also "advise the trade this week on what enhanced communications they will provide both the trade and CBP personnel when confronted with delayed processing or downtime of ACE," it said.

Beginning on July 23, entries and entry summaries associated with entry types 02, 07, 12, 21, 22 31, 32, 34 and 38 must be filed in ACE, along with entries and entry summaries of types 06 and 23 that include quota merchandise (non-quota type 06 and 23 entries have been required in ACE since May 28) (see 1605200034). CBP has said it needs to take a “hard cutover” approach for quota entries, no longer allowing ACS entries at the same time it requires ACE filing, because it cannot process quota fill rates in the two systems simultaneously (see 1605270002). Some in the trade industry have expressed concern that the hard cutover, and the lack of an ACS fallback, could cause more problems than seen in earlier phases of CBP’s ACE transition (see 1606060019).