Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)

The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing new filing requirements at time of entry for imports of certain species of seafood the agency has deemed high-risk (here). Conceived as part of an administration-wide strategy to combat illegal, unreported and unregistered (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud (see 1503160016), filers would have to submit through the Automated Commercial Environment certain data elements and electronic documents in order to improve traceability of imports of the high-risk species. The importer of record would also have to maintain records on the chain of custody of their seafood imports, and obtain an International Fisheries Trade Permit for the high-risk species. Comments on the proposal are due April 5.

CBP is assessing its options for incorporating the "U.S. Virgin Islands into the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) to expedite the importation process," the agency said in a press release (here). Stephen Hilsen, lead executive for the Single Window initiative at CBP, recently visited USVI "to gather information about the current cargo clearance process," in which all custom entries are made by Customs Business Service companies and/or importers in person, the agency said. "The current process lacks electronic communication from the filers to CBP, hence, a heavy paper environment is created in all USVI ports of entry," said CBP. Federal statutes require CBP to collect customs duties on behalf of the USVI, which operates under the Danish Public Law 64, a law that has been in effect since Denmark sold the islands to the U.S. in 1917, said CBP.

The Food and Drug Administration recently launched a new International Trade Data System/Data Universal Number System (DUNS) Portal (here), it said in a recent update to its ACE webpage (here). The portal, developed with Dun & Bradstreet, allows the trade community to look up, verify, update and request new DUNS numbers for use in Automated Commercial Environment transactions. ACE gives importers and brokers the new option to uniquely identify firm information by providing a DUNS number, said FDA. The agency also posted a quick user guide (here) and step-by-step instruction guide (here) for the new portal.

While the Automated Commercial Environment will at some point become the source of importer transaction information, importers should continue to rely on Importer Trade Activity (ITRAC) data for the time being, said Thomas Jesukiewicz, acting executive director of CBP's Regulatory Audit group during an event hosted by the American Conference Institute on Jan. 22. Eventually, through ACE "you'll be able to download your own data to be able to see" importer transaction history, he said.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow full filing of Lacey Act declarations through the Automated Commercial Environment “effective immediately,” it said on Jan. 22 (here). “APHIS and CBP are confident that the system is now ready for full Lacey Act integration based on the sustained success of LAP’s pilot project, which has experienced no data or system errors,” said APHIS. “APHIS has determined that its information technology (IT) infrastructure is sufficiently robust to handle the expected user activity, and the Agency will continue to expand its IT capabilities through an upgrade this summer.” Filers may continue to use the Automated Commercial System to submit Lacey Act declarations until Feb. 28, said APHIS. “We encourage all filers to use this time to test their filing systems in ACE for Lacey Act declarations.”

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).

The Commerce Department and CBP aim to complete its transition of the Census Bureau’s AESDirect and AESPcLink into the Automated Commercial Environment by the end of the summer, Gerard Horner, director of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Technology Evaluation, said on Jan. 20 during the first of two days of meetings of Commerce's Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness in Washington. Data will no longer be collected via separate systems. “Everything will go through the government's single window system ACE,” Horner said. “Census is currently transitioning the 50,000-plus companies who currently use AESDirect and AESPcLink to ACE."

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.

CBP will "retire a significant number of infrequently used" Automated Commercial Environment reports, the agency said (here). CBP will remove the listed report categories (here) on Feb. 15 "as part of its effort to clean up ACE Reports and improve system usability," said CBP. Users can "maintain access to any of the reports scheduled for retirement ... by saving a copy of the report to either a 'Shared' or 'My Favorites' folders for future use," said CBP.

Entries and entry summaries filed on paper after Feb. 28 at the Los Angeles area ports will face delays, said Anne Maricich, acting director of field operations in L.A in a Jan. 15 public bulletin. As of Feb. 28, the Automated Commercial Environment will be available and electronic filing will be required in ACE, she said. The L.A. international airport, L.A./Long Beach Seaport and "outlying ports will give priority to processing all electronic entries and entry summaries," said Maricich. "Filers who submit paper entries will face delays in cargo processing, impacting the release of their shipments." Only 12 percent of "cargo" and 69 percent of entry summaries are being filed at the area's ports in ACE as of the end of 2015, said Maricich. Low levels of cargo release submissions is a source of some concern at CBP ahead of the ACE transition dates (see 1510190017 and 1601140031).