U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials recently stated that the agency is "on track" to fully deploy e-Manifest: Ocean and Rail (M1) at the end of January 2012. The agency has done a lot of testing and is ahead of schedule internally to meet this deadline. In addition, a group of three carriers is waiting for the go-ahead to send manifests in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), which can be set up in a three-week time frame.
According to officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency is continuing to roll out new Importer Security Filing (10+2) capabilities every month. For example, in the next several months, ACE Portal ISF reports will be married to the ACE Portal importer reports for entry summaries, so all that information will be in one big report and the information from each report will not have to be correlated.
The Website for the International Trade Data System has posted (1) an updated ACE Portal Access Application (this form may be used for PGAs applying for access to ACE as well as to make any changes or updates to an existing PGA user account in ACE) and (2) an updated PGA Roster.
The International Trade Data System has issued a draft report for trade comment by November 15, 2011, on the results of three pilot studies conducted to validate the business case for using e-commerce data, such as global product numbers/codes and electronic product catalogs, to improve product visibility at international borders. The report shows that the three product sets on which the pilots focused - toys, cut flowers, and meat and poultry1 -- all benefited from the use of such data and could save importers millions of dollars. The report also states that a new ACE PGA Message Set will be implemented in 2012 to pass e-commerce data to participating government agencies (PGAs).
CBP has posted the following presentations, draft COAC recommendations, etc. for its COAC meeting on October 4, 2011:
The CBP-NCBFAA "Role of the Broker-Broker Regulatory Revision Workgroup" has updated its proposed options for revising the role of licensed customs brokers and the Part 111 regulations. The Workgroup continues to propose a continuing education requirement to maintain an “active” broker's license1 and that Customs business be conducted within the U.S. Customs Territory. It is also proposing that broker status reports be submitted every six months via the ACE Portal, that a web-based exam application process be implemented, and that a review of the broker penalty regime occur. It is no longer proposing an apprenticeship prerequisite to licensing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made available previously recorded webinars on the role of the broker (09/16/11), CBP account management restructuring (09/14/11), ACE Post Summary Corrections (09/01/11), and simplified entry and financial processes (07/12/11). This is part of CBP's series of live webinars that are recorded and made available for subsequent on-demand viewing over the Internet. Presentation slides are also available for download.
According to CBP sources, the ACE Portal functionality enhancements that were part of M1 (e-Manifest: ocean and rail) included benefits for all ACE Portal users and were deployed on August 29 and September 6, 2011 as scheduled.
Concerns are being voiced about whether CBP Commissioner Bersin will be confirmed before his “recess appointment” term expires at the end of 20111. Although Bersin has support in the trade community, the lack of movement by the Senate Finance Committee indicates it still has reservations about the nomination or is having trouble finding a path forward. It is not known if there will be a breakthrough to allow Bersin to stay.
Officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection state that the agency plans to add an enhancement by year’s end so that the original ACE entry summary filer will have visibility to the Post Summary Correction filing done by another party. In addition, officials state that a ‘quick fix’ to provide the original filer visibility via ACS can be used until then.