International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 8-12 in case they were missed.

CBP has finished some of the initial work that will allow for entry summary quality control checks, known as edits, within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), said CBP in its June "ACEopedia." CBP started with Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) validations to lay a foundation for additional validations and "developed a business rules engine that enables development teams to more easily capture, update, and maintain the business rules that govern how the validations work within the system," it said. "As development progresses and CBP gains more experience with Agile development, increasingly complex validations will be added. The second development Increment is focused on coding validations related to Classification. CBP plans to deploy Increments 1 and 2 in October 2013."

CBP's Los Angeles/Long Beach field office will make use of cargo holds in the Automated Cargo Environment (ACE) to address non-compliance with Importer Security Filing (ISF) requirements, the office said in a July 12 public bulletin. Use of the holds will begin July 15 and CBP "will hold all non-compliant ISF shipments at the terminal until the required ISF is filed, it said. CBP recently announced plans to ratchet up enforcement of ISF rules (see 13062613).

CBP will expand its Document Image System (DIS) pilot in the Automated Commercial Environment to add additional partner government agency forms and reduce metadata submission requirements, said CBP in a notice. A Federal Register notice on the expansion will be published shortly, said CBP. DIS allows for electronic submission of documents during the import process required by multiple agencies. CBP began testing the program last year (see 12040548).

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:

CBP posted an updated table listing the key process improvements envisioned for the end-state ACE Cargo Release Inventory. The list includes single window for imports, continued flow of trade during emergencies, automated updates to previously filed import data, enhanced tracking of non-compliant cargo to government custody, expedited entry process for trusted traders, enhanced entry processing for CBP officers, and automated filing and sufficiency checks for customs bonds.

CBP said it's working on revising its regulations to centralize and automate its single transaction bond process, said Paula Connelly, a trade lawyer based in Burlington, Mass. Connelly attended a June 27 meeting on the single transaction bond process at the Port of Boston, which officials said is one of a series of CBP port visits to gather feedback from the trade on its plan to centralize the STB process. Bruce Ingalls, director of CBP’s Revenue Division, hopes to see implementation of the centralized system by the summer of 2014, Connelly said.

CBP headquarters will take a close look at each Importer Security Filing (ISF) liquidated damage claim submitted by the ports to decide whether to move forward on the enforcement action, said Craig Clark, who oversees the ISF program at CBP as vessel program manager. Beginning July 9 and for at least the next year, there will be a “pre-initiation review” at headquarters of all liquidated damages to make sure they “actually rise to the level of violation,” he said. Clark spoke during a National Industrial Transportation League Webinar on ISF filing June 25.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:

CBP plans to hold a webinar at 2 p.m. June 20 to update the trade on the benefits of the Centers of Excellence and Expertise and trade transformation, the agency said in a CSMS message. The webinar will feature Maria Luisa Boyce, senior advisor for private sector engagement from CBP’s Office of Trade Relations and Allen Gina, the assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of International Trade, it said. The webinar also will share information on key programs related to security and trade facilitation including the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), Customs—Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), and Importer Self-Assessment (ISA). Agency officials will also discuss the Base Metals Center of Excellence and Expertise and providing several key steps of the transition to the CEE.