CBP posted some statistics on Automated Commercial Environment use during February (here). There's 23,821 ACE trade accounts and 61,815 approved ACE portal users, said CBP. While the statistics do show an uptick in ACE use compared to January, CBP notes "only seven ACE cargo entry filers submitted over 10% of their total cargo entries in ACE."

The Senate Finance Committee is working to improve upon Customs Reauthorization legislation from previous years for a new bill that could be taken up this Congress, said Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to the American Apparel and Footwear Association on March 19. Congress has failed to “modernize our customs system” in a timely fashion, but the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act provides the framework to do just that, said Hatch. He and then-Finance Chairman Max Baucus floated that legislation in 2013 and tried unsuccessfully to move it forward.

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

CBP should move to update the Business Rules document on Automated Commercial Environment Summary soon, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America leaders recently told Brenda Smith, CBP assistant commissioner. "Although there is a Business Rules Document on ACE Summary, there is still some effort needed to update this publication," said the trade group's president, Geoffrey Powell, on the NCBFAA site (here). "There is an urgent need for the Business Rules document for Cargo Release as soon as possible, as opposed to April/May timeframe," he said. The document is important for training the industry and CBP, said Powell. "Many of our members rely heavily on the ACE Summary Business Rules Document daily when communicating with CBP, so there is mutual understanding of the issue at hand and how it needs to be addressed."

Some government agencies may require document image system (DIS) form submissions as of Nov. 1 in place of Partner Government Agency message set filings during an interim stage, said Elizabeth McQueen of CBP's Automated Commercial Environment business office during a webinar. "For a given form, that's currently in paper that's going to be moved into electronic processing, it actually could be that we go PGA Message Set or it could be DIS, depending on the form and depending on the circumstance," she said. There are a number of reasons CBP would initially require DIS submissions, including "the readiness of the PGA to take in the individual data elements or it could be a rulemaking," she said. As of Nov. 1, CBP will require that all electronic cargo release filings be in ACE.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 9-13 in case they were missed.

CBP posted a number of documents ahead of the second part of its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) software developer session (here). The second part of sessions was rescheduled for March 27 at the U.S Department of Agriculture (here). The posted documents include the slides from several other agencies that were originally scheduled to present on March 4. The other agency presentations include:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to test out a “streamlined approach” to filing electronic certificates of compliance in its upcoming pilot program, said Carol Cave, director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance and Inspection, during a webinar on March 12. Agency officials envision a “certificate registry,” where full certificates of compliance containing all required data elements would be filed in advance of entry, said Cave. At time of entry, importers and brokers would then only have to provide a certificate number generated by the registry that would reference the full certificate, she said.

CBP posted the transcript (here) and presentation (here) from a March 4 webinar for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) software developers.

CBP additional guidance for other agencies interacting with the Automated Commercial Environment (see 1503090013):