CPSC Running Internal Study of Potential ACE Data Elements, as ACE Funding Sources Remain Uncertain
SAN DIEGO -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission in July began a yearlong internal study of the usefulness of obtaining certain compliance data prior to import, CPSC Office of Import Surveillance Deputy Director Jim Joholske said Oct. 23 during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ) conference. The follow-up study, which began following completion of the six-month e-filing alpha pilot in December 2016 (see 1701270043), involves collecting existing product safety certificates of compliance each time a regular import exam is conducted, as part of an effort to determine the potential benefits of having the certificates’ data elements, pre-arrival, Joholske said.
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In CPSC’s ongoing study, “we’re not impacting any trade that we would not normally impact,” Joholske said during a brief interview. “But we’re collecting certificates of compliance each time we examine a product under this study.” The alpha pilot, which involved eight companies and their customs brokers, went well, but there are “a number of steps that need to happen before we go to a final rule, and there are going to be increments to that,” Joholske said. As part of its study, CPSC is evaluating that data on certificates "to make some determination how useful these data elements would be if we would’ve had them prior to the product coming into the country," he said. CPSC will make a decision on next ACE steps sometime after the certificate study ends, he said. The commission has mentioned tentative plans to conduct a "beta" Partner Government Agency (PGA) filing pilot open to about 100 companies (see 1701270043).
As CBP still works to fully implement its ACE capabilities, PGAs could possibly help expedite deployment if they are able to shift funding toward CBP ACE implementation, CBP Cargo Security and Controls Director Jim Swanson said at the conference. “We’re not advocating anything, but we do have multiple ways to get these things done, mostly through moving existing appropriations over to cover it, in the case of us and among the PGAs, who might be able to help fund it, move money over, if the money was available and if it was a high enough priority for the agencies,” Swanson said. “This is way up on our priority list. We’re just having a hard time getting it funded with all our other priorities.”
Rockefeller Group FTZ Services Managing Director Rebecca Williams at the NAFTZ conference said she and colleagues have asked many PGAs for more details on ACE implementation and funding several times, to no avail. Among the outstanding questions is whether PGAs will accept e214s for direct delivery, and it's possible that the agencies will require additional paperwork for that, she said.
CBP has been using funds from its operations and support account to fund ACE functionality, but with such a “massive” system, those resources dry up pretty quickly, and generally get used only for sustaining the system, as opposed to development, Swanson said. CBP requested $45.1 million total for ACE core functionality, within the Operations and Support account, for FY18 (see 1705250030). “Congress has looked at our budgets over the next couple of years, and we’ve been pushing for more money,” Swanson said. “This is on the list of things that we’re looking to get funded as part of our appropriations.” If CBP got necessary funding to finish ACE development, which would probably cost $10 million to $15 million, it would take about "a half-year's work" to roll out full ACE functionality, he said. It could cost less "depending on how much work [there is] once we actually get in, to crack the code," Swanson said.