U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message announcing that it will present upcoming programming changes for existing and new functionality scheduled to be delivered as part of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) meeting on March 6-8, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. The seminar will target ocean and rail software developers and ABI participants. Presentations over the three days will focus on: (i) Message formats for ACE M1 Ocean/Rail Manifest and the trade pilot; (ii) New IT initiatives including Export Manifest, Cargo Release, Simplified Entry, Document Image System (DIS), PGA Message Set, and ABI changes for M1; (iii) ACE entry summary and related documentation overviews such as ACS to ACE changes, Entry Summary Create/Update and Status Notification, Post Summary Corrections, etc. Registration is available at http://www.ncbfaa.org/.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted February 2012 user guides for the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) on antidumping and countervailing duty cases and messages, blanket declaration records (e.g. importer certifying statement, NAFTA certificate of origin), and entry banks for BRASS, FAST, and Rail Line Release.
In June 2011, the Canadian Border Services Agency announced the phased-in timeframe for increasing the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) at time of interim accounting (PARS and RMD requests). CBSA has reposted Customs Notice 11-004 as effective February 1, EDI must be used for PARS/RMD releases of up to 500 invoice lines, up from the 250 invoice line requirement that took effect on September 1, 2011.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that it will conduct the next Customs Broker License Examination on Monday, April 2, 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted its draft agenda and 22 other documents for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on February 21, 2012, which include presentations, draft recommendations, and other documents on the role of the Broker, Simplified Entry, Bonds, the Global Supply Chain, and other topics.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the following user guides for the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE):
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a frequently asked questions and answers document to provide guidance to licensed Customs brokers on the submission of the Triennial Status Report and fee. The next triennial status report, in addition to a $100 fee, should be filed by February 29, 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its February 2012 "Trade Transformation" document, which includes a modified flow diagram of the Simplified Entry process in the air cargo environment from pre-departure to arrival. The diagram has removed the CBP messaging icons and descriptors and instead more fully describes CBP's interaction with and messaging to filers and carriers throughout the Simplified Entry (SE) process. The updated version also no longer lists the locations for current and planned Centers of Excellence and Expertise.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.