The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will revise its regulations to allow for use of the International Trade Data System (ITDS), the agency said in a notice (here). Effective as of June 21, APHIS will remove requirements for paper submissions for import or export of animals, animal products, plant and plant products, it said. "The amendments we are making in this final rule are not to mandate the use of electronic systems or preclude the use of paper documents; rather, they address those instances where our regulations specify a submission method to the exclusion of other methods," APHIS said.

The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will consider several regulatory changes meant "to clarify and streamline import procedures, and support the implementation of the International Trade Data System," it said in a notice (here). The proposal applies to regulations "governing the importation of distilled spirits, wine, beer and malt beverages, tobacco products, processed tobacco, and cigarette papers and tubes," it said. Comments on the proposal are due by Aug. 22.

Prior Notice confirmation numbers can be obtained through the Food and Drug Administration's Prior Notice System Interface, ACE or the Automated Commercial System until July 23, CBP said in a CSMS message (here). "Following that date, ACE and the FDA PNSI will be the only systems available to provide a Prior Notice Confirmation Number," CBP said. "The ACS functionality will completely transition to ACE on July 23rd, 2016."

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

The move to ACE for the vast majority of Food and Drug Administration entries and entry summaries went without major complications, the FDA and customs brokers said. "We are very pleased that a lot of brokers have fully embraced the transition to ACE" and "FDA’s times for processing entries have actually decreased in ACE," Doug Stearn, director of the FDA’s Office of Enforcement and Import Operations, said in an email. Electronic filing of FDA entries and entry summaries under entry types 01, 03, 06, 11, 23, 51 and 52 was required in ACE as of June 15, though the agencies said they would allow for some leeway for filers using the old system (see 1606100012). Those seven entry types account for some 90 percent of entries that FDA sees (see 1605270002). CBP didn't comment.

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

There's already a "strong case" to quickly expand pre-inspection programs for goods entering the U.S. from Mexico based on the ongoing pilots, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said while speaking June 15 at a Wilson Center event about the U.S.-Mexico border (here). Despite the promising early stages of the programs (see 1601130018), there are some political issues, particularly immigration and border security, that make more rapid expansion difficult, Kerlikowske said. "I think more can be accomplished as we look at these pilot programs," but "I would not expect significant changes" in the near future as evaluation continues, he said. "There's nothing that I would see in the future that would inhibit expansion and discussion around some of these."

The State Department Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Marine Conservation will conduct a pilot “after July 25” to test submission of forms and/or data related to importation of shrimp and shrimp products using the Partner Government Agency (PGA) Message Set and Document Imaging System of ACE, State said (here). Initially, PGA Message Set data may be submitted only for entry types 01 and 11 filed at certain ports, State said. Eligible participants for the pilot comprise brokers and self-filing importers who have the ability to file ACE Entry Summaries certified for cargo release and ACE cargo release, and who file entries for shrimp and shrimp products, State said.

The Food and Drug Administration is "providing priority processing for ACE entries of FDA-regulated products," CBP said in a CSMS message (here). "The data shows average processing time for manual review and release of ACE submitted entries is 25% faster than for [Automated Commercial System] submitted entries, and release times for document reviews is 33% faster than for ACS submitted entries (a time savings of 1 ½ days)," it said. "We expect review times to improve as entry filers make the transition to ACE; FDA will be updating the data and charts on a weekly basis." Starting June 15, use of ACE will be mandatory for electronic FDA cargo release and entry summary submissions, a major milestone in the ACE transition (see 1606100012). The FDA also created a new page on its website dedicated to the ACE transition (here). The FDA will also use "production calls" to give guidance to importers and entry filers on ACE and will "allow FDA and CBP to collaborate on entries requiring attention from both agencies," CBP said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 6-10 in case they were missed.