As implementation of core ACE capabilities nears completion, CBP and the trade community “need to keep an eye on” congressional budgets to make sure the resources are in place for improvements after 2016, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference on Sept. 12 in Washington. Though completion of core ACE by the Obama administration’s December 2016 deadline is “in the bag,” there is “vast room for improvement,” Smith said. CBP and the trade community need to make sure that ACE is not only the “best of the best” single window in 2016, but continues to be going forward, she said.

CBP outlined the changes to come once ACE becomes required for electronic drawback filings, set for Oct. 29, on the agency's website (here). Most of the changes, such as a limit of 5,000 records and the use of the Document Image System, were previously described by CBP (see 1608110026).

The coming mandatory use of ACE for electronic duty deferral entries will include on minor differences, CBP said (here). The only notable change applies to editing entries, it said. "In order to edit, the original duty deferral entry must be rejected and the Trade must resubmit," CBP said. "As necessary, the trade may request CBP reject the entry summary for corrections." Such electronic entries will be required to be filed through ACE starting Oct. 29.

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

CBP will end its ACE pilot for data required by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on Oct. 11, CBP said in a notice (here). "This notice announces that CBP has determined that ACE is fully capable of accepting electronic entries transmitted to ACE with the [Partner Government Agency] Message Set data required for FSIS-regulated meat, poultry, and egg products," CBP said. "The electronic transmission of this data to ACE expedites delivery of this data to FSIS, thereby providing the data to FSIS before the products arrive for inspection." CBP began the pilot in 2013 (see 13121219).

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

CBP will move the mandatory use date to Oct. 29 for several post-release processes in ACE, including reconciliation and drawback, according to a letter from CBP sent to Trade Support Network leadership and posted by CustomsNow (here). A CBP spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the letter and said the agency's website would be updated soon. The change follows a request from the Trade Support Network asking for more time to prepare for drawback and reconciliation in ACE (see 1608310049). "CBP is moving this date from October 1, 2016 to October 29, 2016 to allow additional time for our trade stakeholders to transition these capabilities to ACE," the letter said. "This adjustment affects the mandatory filing of liquidation, drawback, reconciliation, duty deferral, collections, statements, and automated surety interface," it said.

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

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 29 - Sept. 2 in case they were missed.

CBP issued a guidance that lists several possible shipping vessel diversion scenarios related to Hanjin Shipping's bankruptcy filing (here). The agency provided the list "in anticipation of possible disruptions due to Hanjin Shipping vessels or cargo arriving to U.S. ports," it said in a Sept. 2 CSMS message (here). Hanjin's bankruptcy filing (see 1609020011) continues to be a source of uncertainty among industry for goods currently being handled by Hanjin and future shipping rates. The South Korean company filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection under Chapter 15 on Sept. 2 and is expected to take similar steps in other countries soon, The Wall Street Journal reported (here).