On December 16-17, 2011, the House and Senate agreed to the conference report on H.R. 2055, a bill to provide appropriations for most federal government agencies1 for the remainder of fiscal year 2012, including the DHS (which includes CBP, ICE, and TSA). Although H.R. 2055 contains $11.7 billion for CBP, an increase of $362 million over the FY 2011 level, FY 2012 funding would be reduced for automation modernization, international cargo screening, C-TPAT, etc. (Note that some press reports suggest that the President wants an agreement on the payroll tax cut before he will sign H.R. 2055 into law.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted its monthly Automated Commercial Environment Updates for December 2011. With this update, CBP lists new statistics on the growing number of ACE Secure Data Portal trade user accounts and the growing size of revenue collected via Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS). The number of approved entities authorized to file ACE entry summaries using the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) has also grown to 54 entities, with more than 710,959 ACE entry summaries having been filed since functionality was introduced in April 2009.
At the December 7, 2011 COAC meeting, COAC discussed the goals of its Bond Subcommittee, such as working with CBP to develop guidelines for the new CBP Form 301, the use of which is required January 1, 2012, and providing input into CBP’s plans to centralize single transaction bonds (STBs).
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 has issued a fact sheet inviting importers to take part in the many advantages of establishing an ACE portal account. Benefits of an importer ACE portal account include access to numerous reports, improved communications with CBP and a consolidated management approach facilitated by the tracking of import activity in a single, comprehensive, account based view.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a fact sheet inviting sureties to create and maintain a free Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal account and utilize the numerous ACE reports that are available. CBP states that a surety with a portal account can view and update their account data, including company information (e.g., physical address, mailing address, service of process address and points of contact). The Trade Account Owner (TAO) for the surety account type will also be able to create and maintain a current listing of their corporate surety powers of attorney (CSPOA).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a fact sheet inviting customs brokers to create and maintain a free Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal account and utilize the numerous ACE reports that are available. CBP states that an ACE portal account provides brokers with the ability to obtain monthly statements, make payments on behalf of their ACE and non-ACE clients, communicate with CBP, and track import activity in a single, comprehensive, account-based view.
Officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection now state that the planned ACE enhancement to provide the original ACE entry summary filer with visibility to the Post Summary Correction done by another party is "on hold," as resources are being directed to e-Manifest: Rail and Ocean (M1) programming needs.
At the December 7, 2011 COAC meeting, COAC and CBP officials discussed the expansion and evolution of the Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) pilot, including CBP's plans to make it a permanent program, the benefits of integrating ACAS and the ACE Simplified Entry pilot, and the EU's commitment to testing ACAS. In addition, COAC’s Air Cargo Subcommittee outlined the activities it plans to pursue during the next three months.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for December 5-9, 2011 in case they were missed last week.