Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 9-13 in case they were missed last week.

CBP will allow non-automated entities to release cargo based on screen printouts from importers and brokers in order to support the ongoing Simplified Entry (SE) pilot, CBP said in a July 24 CSMS message. The printout should have at a minimum the shipment ID and quantity being released, the type of release as well as clear identification of who presented the release information, said CBP.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.

CBP said it fixed a major Automated Commercial System (ACS) problem July 20. CBP found that ACS wasn't sending in-bond events to ACE M1, preventing ACE M1 pilot participants from clearing cargo in the port. CBP used an emergency deployment and the issue is now resolved, it said.

CBP posted a July version of its list of trade benefits for participants in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) by industry segment. Specific benefits are listed for Customs brokers, importers, self-filers, sureties, carriers, trade account owners (TAOs), as well as all users with portal accounts, for (1) ACE Secure Data Portal, (2) Periodic Monthly Statement, (3) ACE Reports, (4) Simplified Entry, (5) Entry Summary Filing(6) Document Image System, (7) Post Summary Corrections, (8) e-Manifest: Truck and (9) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea. The July version includes two new sections, Simplified Entry (SE) and Document Image System (DIS), that weren't in the previous version.

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

CBP’s pilot test of electronic export ocean manifests (CBP Form 1302A) using the CBP Document Image System (DIS) will be expanded in mid-August to cover all East Coast ports, as well as the ports of Chicago, Buffalo, and Detroit, said Cynthia Allen of CBP’s ACE Business Office. The pilot, which began March 28, included eight ports in the Southeast and was based at CBP’s Atlanta office. The 18 participating carriers were given the option of entirely electronic filing of their ocean export manifests. “One carrier has calculated savings of $20,000 per month” due to the pilot, said Allen.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is seeking volunteers to participate in the document imaging system trial, said CBP in a CSMS message. The pilot allows importers and brokers that use ACE to submit official CBP documents and specified Participating Government Agency (PGA) forms via the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

CBP will be deploying enhancements to the Electronic Invoice Program and Remote Location Filng programs in the fall, the agency said in a CSMS message July 19. The updates will allow Antidumping (AD)/Countervailing (CVD) consumption entry summaries (Entry Type 03) to be filed in ACE. Currently, RLF only includes filing for entry types 01 and 11.

“Export Control Reform has not stalled…and our goal is in sight” said Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro in his opening remarks at the Bureau of Industry and Security’s annual Update 2012 Conference on Export Controls and Policy. “Come January, we will either have crossed the goal line,” or whoever replaces the officials in the next administration will “dive into the end zone and do a touchdown dance,” he said. BIS Under Secretary Eric Hirschhorn also addressed recent Congressional activity on Export Control Reform (ECR) in his opening remarks, and outlined the Obama administration’s second-term priorities for ECR.