U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a CSMS message the ACE certification environment will be unavailable June 13 from 6 a.m.until 11 a.m. ABI software developer requested that CBP deploy fixes to the ACE certification environment prior to deployment to ACE Production, scheduled for June 23.
Despite a threatened Presidential veto, the House of Representatives approved a $46 billion budget bill (HR-5855) June 7 for the Homeland Security Department on a vote of 234-182. The budget bill includes increases in funding for border and immigration enforcement, but includes a slight cut for the Transportation Security Administration. The bill now goes to the Senate, where Democratic leaders have indicated opposition to it.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will hold two Webinars for carriers and software developers who haven't started the transition from AMS to eManifest: Rail and Sea (M1). CBP will shut down AMS on Sept. 29, leaving M1 as the only electronic filing environment.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a final rule to permit licensed customs brokers to store records relating to their customs transactions at any location within the U.S. under certain conditions, and to remove the requirement that certain brokers retain entry records in their original format for the 120-day period after release of imported merchandise. The rule ran in the Federal Register June 8.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection official Daniel Baldwin sought to allay persistent concerns from the trade community on the coming transition to eManifest: Rail and Sea (M1), saying the immediate CBP focus will be implementation rather enforcement. Baldwin, CBP's Executive Director of Cargo and Conveyance Security, spoke at the American Association for Exporters and Importers convention June 5. Several industry executives voiced concerns, especially about the treatment of residue within M1.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's establishment of Centers for Excellence and Expertise will be beneficial beyond a single agency, industry or company, said CBP Acting Commissioner David Aguilar, speaking at the American Association of Exporters and Importers conference June 4. Such efforts mark the institutionalizing of a "new culture," he said. "We're building the future," he said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the simplified entry (SE) pilot, begun on May 29, was successful. The successful pilot marks the delivery of the first phase of Cargo Release, known as Simplified Entry, in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), said CBP.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a record of changes since May 7 to the ACE ABI CATAIR (Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements). The change log is (here). The full CATAIR is (here).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reminded ACE users of a coming outage in a CSMS message. CBP said due to a major hardware upgrade, the ACE certification environment will be unavailable beginning June 1, 2012 at 15:00 EDT through June 3, 2012 at 23:59 EDT. This upgrade won't impact ACE Production, said CBP.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its ACE Trade Account Owner (TAO) Update. The TAO provides an update on participation in CBP's e-Manifest: Rail and Sea, ISF Reports, and tips for obtaining a list of truck conveyances. The CSMS message is (here).