Update on Questions & Answers from CBP's October/November ACE Exchange II Conference (Part III)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted to its Web site a document listing the questions and answers from the importer and broker session of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Exchange II Conference that was held from October 30-November 2, 2006 in Tucson, Arizona.
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This is Part III of a multi-part series of summaries on this Q&A document, and highlights questions and answers presented during the following sessions of the conference: (1) the importer breakout session on importer perspective, and (2) the ACE Secure Data Portal overview session. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.
Q&A from Importer Breakout Session on the Importer Perspective
If an importer flags entries for reconciliation, can they have a filer code just for the reconciliation entries through ACE?
CBP answers yes and notes that the importer will need to use ABI.
Can importers use ACE to monitor deadlines for Customs Form (CF) 28s, reconciliations, etc?
CBP answers not really; however, importers can run a report and use the summary date to calculate when something is due.
If an importer uses UPS or FedEx and the importer is not shown as the importer of record (IR) but just the ultimate consignee, can they get information from ACE?
CBP states that the system is driven by the IR number not the ultimate consignee. As such it can't give the importer any information.
When an importer pulls ACE reports can they separate the MPF from duties and get those separate expenses?
CBP states that the importer can use the AR 007 (Broker Quickviews) report to get that information.
Q&A from ACE Secure Data Portal Overview Session
How long does it take for an ACE portal account to be activated after the application is sent in? How long until activation? What kind of historical information will be in the ACE account?
CBP states that on average it takes 4-6 weeks to have an ACE account activated. The historical data that will be available in the ACE account is the last three fiscal years (FYs) and the current FY data.
If the legal record keeping requirement is 5 years then why is ACE only providing 3-1/2 years of historical data?
CBP states that ACE is not yet the system of record. CBP adds that when it goes to Entry Summary, Accounts, and Revenue (ESAR) A2, ACE will be the system of record.
Is there a way for ultimate consignees to get on the portal to check what has been filed?
No. According to CBP, only the IR will be able to view the information on the ACE portal.
Is it still the requirement that the Account Owner sign onto the ACE portal every 90 days?
According to CBP, the Trade Account Owner (TAO) must sign into the ACE portal every 90 days, as it is a security requirement.
Do CBP Account Managers know that they should be logging into their accounts to review any pending tasks?
According to CBP, the Account Managers do know that they should be signing on daily to review the task list. CBP adds that it is working on getting the Account Managers to be more proactive with ACE.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 12/08/06 news, 06120805, for BP summary announcing the availability of the Q&A document.
See ITT's Online Archives or 12/19/06 and 12/21/06 news, 06121910 and 06122115, respectively, for Parts I & II of BP's summary of this Q&A document.)
CBP Q&A available at CBP Q&A available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/ace/reports_briefings_events/ace_ex_conf/ace_exchange/ace2_qa.ctt/ace2_qa.doc