U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message providing a Spanish version of the July 2011 monthly Trade Account Owner (TAO) update for truck carriers to share with all users of their ACE account. (CSMS #11-000176)

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 states that Web-Based Training (WBT) for e-Manifest: Rail & Sea (M1) is now available. CBP's information on M1 is broken into six lessons, with the recommended audience listed as appropriate.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General has issued a report¹ stating that CBP lacks adequate controls over its single transaction bond (STB) process. OIG states billions of dollars in STBs may be at risk, jeopardizing CBP’s ability to use STBs to meet its revenue collection and enforcement goals. In response, CBP stated it would incorporate requirements for bond automation in ACE Cargo Release, develop a risk-based bonding methodology for high-risk imports, etc.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its July 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner Update, which contains information on the new features and edits of the next ACE release, e-Manifest: Ocean and Rail (M1), which is expected to be deployed in pilot form in September.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's July 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner Update (Version 2) states that it plans to announce a six-month time frame for ACS to be decommissioned for ocean and rail manifests. This six month period will initiate from operational acceptance by CBP's Executives, following rigorous review and testing, of ACE as the replacement system for ocean and rail manifests.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's July 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner Update (Version 2) states that the e-Manifest: Ocean and Rail (M1) Trade Pilot is expected to start in September 2011, and that CBP will initiate its rollout to the ports in October 2011, starting with Buffalo, Baltimore, and Brownsville.

Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 25-29, 2011 in case they were missed last week.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on August 18, 2011 in Long Beach, CA, and for the first time is offering a live webcast via the Internet of the meeting, as an alternative to attendance .

On July 27, 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Aguilar hosted a Trade Day forum with several groups, including Businesses for a Better Border, also known as B3.¹ Among other things, CBP states that a pilot using single application requirements for Canada's Partners in Protection Program (PIP) and CBP's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) was very successful and that CBP is looking at expanding the pilot in September.²