CBP Releases its December 31, 2005 Quarterly Report to Congress on ACE (Part II)

CBP states that this report provides an update on ACE accomplishments, challenges, fiscal status, and upcoming program milestones.

CBP notes that this report also addresses the ongoing CBP efforts to integrate ACE with other systems and engage other government agencies to participate in the ACE/International Trade Data System (ITDS).

This is Part II of a multi-part series of summaries on CBP's quarterly report to Congress on ACE and highlights recent ACE accomplishments, as well as ACE cost and scheduling issues. See future issued of ITT for additional summaries.

4th Quarter ACE Accomplishments

The following are highlights of CBP's selected ACE accomplishments for the period October 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005:

Advance Trade Data Initiative (ATDI) Phase 3 prototype initiated. CBP initiated the Phase 3 prototype for ATDI, which provides additional insight into supply chain information that can be used for advance targeting purposes. Phase 3 uses geospatial capabilities to show the location of a specific container on world map; the dates of the container's movement as it is transported by vessels and moves through countries, cities, and ports; and additional details on the container's movement through the supply chain. The data is being used to assess the value of the linked information along the trade supply chain and to identify anomalies that may signal an illegitimate shipment or a potential terrorist threat.

Programming for FTZ automated admission & cargo control system completed. CBP's Office of Information Technology (OIT) accelerated development of this new application (originally planned as part of Exports and Cargo Control (Release 7)), which will improve collection and reporting of information on goods admitted into foreign trade zones (FTZs). When implemented, the FTZ application will provide the electronic equivalent of CBP Form 214 for good entering FTZs. As such, it will reduce paper document handling, improve the efficiency of FTZ processing for the trade community, and enhance the agency's screening and targeting capabilities for goods entering FTZs.

ACE operational capabilities enhanced. CBP introduced additional ACE enhancements that support compliance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bioterrorism Act; allow service providers to submit e-Manifests on behalf of carriers; and enable Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transmissions to contain multiple manifests, provide in-Bond export capability, and provide release notifications at in-bond destination ports.

ACE Schedule and Cost

The following are highlights of the cost and schedule-related issues addressed by CBP in its report to Congress:

ACE still expected to be completed by January 2010. According to CBP, based on a review of future ACE releases and revisions to program inflation rate projections, OIT anticipates that ACE development can be completed by January 2010 at a cost of $2.8 billion. CBP states that although it continues to manage to the acquisition program baseline, it is focused on meeting these cost and schedule targets.

FY06 Modernization Expenditure Plan. CBP states that the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Modernization Expenditure Plan is consistent with the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2006. The plan requests $318.5 million for ACE and ITDS. Among the key elements are:

detailed design and development of cargo management and Screening and Targeting (S&T) capabilities;

continued deployment of ACE truck processing capabilities at land border ports; and

design and development of participating government agency (PGA) requirements for ACE/ITDS.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/20/06 news, 06062010, for Part I.)

December 31, 2005 ACE quarterly report available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/ace/newsletters/quarterly_reports/ace_report_to_congress_122005.ctt/ace_report_to_congress_122005.pdf.