Updated Information on the International Trade Data System (7 PGAs Added, New SDS, Etc.)

In its document, CBP states that the ITDS program supports those federal agencies working with CBP to develop the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).

The ITDS program assists participating government agencies (PGAs) in identifying, documenting, and executing their plan to leverage ACE to improve their business operations and further their agency missions.

To this end, the ITDS program spearheads the production and maintenance of the ITDS Standard Data Set (SDS), a comprehensive, streamlined collection of data requirements related to international trade and U.S. border regulatory and enforcement processes the PGAs will need in ACE.

The goal of this data harmonization effort is to support the ITDS vision of a seamless automated approach to federal regulation at U.S. borders, or, in other words, a "single window."

As of November 2006, 29 PGAs are Involved in ITDS

According to CBP, as of November 2006, the following 29 PGAs are involved in the ITDS project:

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)

U.S. Census Bureau

Foreign Trade Zones Board (FTZB)

International Trade Administration, Import Administration (ITA, IA)

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS; NOAA Fisheries)¹

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

U.S. Transportation Command¹

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC)

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)¹

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP)¹

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)¹

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

International Trade Commission (ITC)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives(ATF)

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Office of Foreign Missions (OFM)¹

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

Maritime Administration (MARAD)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau(TTB)

International Revenue Service¹

¹These PGAs have been added to the list since February 2006. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/02/06 news, 06030205, for BP summary on the updated ACE/ITDS SDS, which lists the PGAs as of February 2006.)

Highlights of ITDS Presentation Given at ACE Exchange II Conference

CBP has posted to its Web site the PowerPoint presentation on ITDS that was given at its ACE Exchange II Conference, which was held from October 30-November 2, 2006 in Tucson, Arizona. Highlights of the presentation are as follows:

SDS updated, to be unveiled at December 2006 TSN Plenary Session. According to the CBP presentation and sources, the SDS has been updated and the new version is expected to be unveiled at the December 2006 Trade Support Network (TSN) Plenary Session.

ITDS sources state that the number of data elements has been reduced in order to eliminate duplicate data elements. These sources add that the data elements may increase later due to the expected increase in PGAs as a result of the passing of the "Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006" (SAFE Port Act). (See ITT's Online Archives or 10/18/06 news, 06101820, for BP's summary of the SAFE Port Act, which states, among other things, that all relevant Federal agencies must participate in ITDS, unless waived.)

ACE portal access for PGAs. According to the presentation, ACE portal access provides PGAs with account based information and the ACE portal provides current entry and entry summary data faster than previous delivery methods.

Coming ITDS ACE developments. In its presentation CBP states it is working on developing the following:

PGAs with account based licenses, permits and certificates will be able to attach those license numbers to the appropriate account (importer, exporter/manufacturer or carrier) - A1 Drop (CBP has previously stated that A1 is expected in 2007.) (ITDS sources note that these plans and requirements are for the future (2007), and this is currently available to be done manually in the Automated Commercial System (ACS).)

PGAs with transactional licenses, permits or certificates will be able to have them validated - M2 Drop (ITDS sources explain that this feature is expected by 2009.)

Linking ACE Release 4 with the FMCSA Query Central (ITDS sources state that they expect to launch a pilot program by July 2007.)

Providing electronic means of collecting and reporting results of CBP agriculture specialists to CBP and APHIS

CBP document (posted 11/15/06) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/ace/what_is_itds.ctt/what_is_itds.pdf

CBP presentation (dated 11/01/06) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/ace_ex_conf/ace_exchange/ace_ex2/presentations/