CBP Wants Brokers to be Part of May M1 Pilot
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s April 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner (TAO) announces that the agency is seeking brokers to be part of the e-Manifest: Ocean and Rail (M1) pilot, which is scheduled to begin in May. In September, CBP plans to begin rolling out M1 on a port-by-port basis and expects this rollout to be completed in January 2012.
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(On October 20, 2010, CBP published a Federal Register notice announcing the next release of ACE concerning the transmission of required advance ocean and rail data through ACE (M1) and seeking applications from all transmitters of such data wishing to participate in the pilot. In its notice, CBP said it was looking for 1-2 ABI filers (e.g. brokers) for the pilot. CBP recently stated that 16 major carriers will be transmitting data to CBP as part of the pilot.)
In November 2010, CBP announced plans to pilot M1 in February 2011 and deploy it in spring 2011. In its Federal Register notice requesting applicants to test the M1 pilot, CBP stated that the pilot would commence no earlier than December 22, 2010. However, the pilot was put “on hold” and delayed due to contractor issues.)
CBP Says Some Changes Affect ABI Users, Wants Them to Test Functionality
CBP states that there are some changes to functionality that impact ABI software developers and their users. These changes are found in ABI Application Identifiers QP and WP (In-Bond), BD (Broker Download), and NS (Status Notifications).
Although the changes are minor, CBP is looking for ABI users to participate as early adopters to test this functionality and participate in the pilot.
Interested ABI participants should refer to the October 2010 Federal Register notice for a more detailed description of the pilot and participation eligibility requirements. Emails expressing intent to be considered as an early adopter should be directed to Susan Maskell (at susan.maskell@dhs.gov) with the information set forth in the selection criteria section of the notice.
M1 Pilot Set to Begin in Mid-May
CBP officials recently announced that since a decision has been made to move forward with the M1 contract, the M1 pilot and trade testing is scheduled to begin in mid-May. (CBP previously stated that the M1 pilot was put “on hold” due to concerns about IBM, while the agency evaluated whether another contractor should be used.)1
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 04/21/11 news, 11042125, for BP summary announcing that the pilot was scheduled to begin in mid-May.)
CBP Expects to Begin Rolling M1 out on Port-by-Port Basis in September
In September, CBP plans to begin rolling out M1 on a port-by-port basis. CBP expects this rollout to be completed in January 2012. After all ports in the U.S. are using the e-Manifest for ocean and rail, carriers will be notified that they have six months to transition out of the Automated Commercial System (ACS). Information on the transition will be provided in a future Federal Register notice.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 10/20/10 news, 10102007, for BP summary of CBP’s general notice requesting applicants for the M1 pilot.
See ITT’s Online Archives or 02/14/11 news, 11021424, for BP summary of CBP officials announcing that the M1 pilot was put on hold.)
ABI CATAIR available here.