Negotiations to Begin Over Linking ASEAN Single Window With ACE

The U.S. will soon start discussions with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations about a possible connection between ASEAN's customs filing platform with the U.S. platform, the State Department said in a Nov. 3 fact sheet about "Expanding the Enduring Partnership" with ASEAN. "The United States and the ASEAN Secretariat announced the opening of negotiations to link the ASEAN 'Single Window' with the U.S. Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) System, which governs all trade in goods entering the United States," State said. "Making this link will further facilitate $272 billion in two-way trade in goods between the United States and ASEAN."

It's still undecided exactly what such a link between the two systems will entail, a CBP spokesperson said. "Yes, this is a new idea," the spokesperson said. "Negotiations haven’t yet begun so it is much too early to discuss any kind of details or specifics."

Members of the regional organization are Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. According to the ASEAN Single Window website, seven members are already using the single window, while the last three are scheduled to join by the end of the year. Within the ASEAN single window, preferential tariff treatment is granted based on the use of an Electronic Certificate of Origin, it said.