The National Marine Fisheries Service will use Sept. 20 as the deadline for all electronic filing of import data in ACE, and export data in the Automated Export System, for products regulated by the agency, it said (here). On that date, NMFS will end its ACE import pilot and AES export pilot, and require ACE or AES for electronic import and export filings, including the NMFS partner government agency (PGA) message set, document imaging system (DIS) submissions, and a check for the new consolidated International Fisheries Trade Permit (IFTP) for swordfish, tuna and toothfish regulated under the agency’s Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Highly Migratory Species International Trade Permit, and Tuna Tracking and Verification programs (see 1608020016). “All importers and exporters of fish products regulated by NMFS are encouraged to use ACE or AES, as applicable, for their electronic filings in advance” of Sept. 20, “when such filings will become mandatory,” NMFS said. The agency will hold two webinars, on Aug. 18 and Sept. 1, to discuss implementation of the consolidated IFTP (here).

Clarification: APHIS will on Aug. 15 end its “core” pilot. After that date, filers will be required to file "electronic entries in ACE with APHIS data and some or all APHIS forms using the method designated on the CBP Web site for the submission of the APHIS data and forms" (see 1607150020).

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

CBP on Aug. 13 will begin enforcing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tariff schedule flags on weekly type 06 foreign trade zone entry summaries, it said in a CSMS message (here). “On that date, additional system validations will be in place to reject any ACE weekly Type 06 entry summary filings that do NOT include the NHTSA PGA Message Set data," CBP said.

The addition of reconciliation to ACE on Oct. 1 will allow filers to submit line-by-line changes to CBP electronically, rather than a hard copy spreadsheet, Lena Torrence of CBP’s Commercial Operations, Revenue and Entry division said during a recent webinar. The legacy Automated Commercial System currently only allows filers to submit the reconciliation header and association file, but as of Oct. 1 filers will also submit electronically all line-item changes to classification, special classification under tariff heading 9802, value and free-trade agreement eligibility, she said.

CBP’s Oct. 1 deadline for drawback in ACE will bring changes not only for electronic claims currently filed in the Automated Commercial System, but also for claims submitted manually, agency officials said during an Aug. 11 webinar. Electronic claims in ACE will be subject to a limit of 5,000 records, and supporting documentation will have to be uploaded in the document imaging system (DIS) within 24 hours for a claim to be considered complete, said Lena Torrence of CBP’s Commercial Operations, Revenue and Entry division. As CBP has previously announced (see 1606070040), current entry types 41 through 46 will be replaced with the single entry type 47, with the relevant provision of drawback laws cited on the claim, and all communication for electronic claims, including CBP Form 28s, through the ACE portal, she said.

CBP plans to mandate filing in ACE of electronic Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “core” data “early this fall,” it said in an update on the status of partner government agency (PGA) pilots (here). The pilot for APHIS core, which includes all filings except those required by the Lacey Act, such as PGA data required for imports of plants, live animals and animal products under APHIS’ Animal Care, Biotechnology Regulatory Services, Veterinary Services and Plant Protection and Quarantine programs, is set to end Aug. 15, at which point "entry filers will be required to file electronic entries in ACE with APHIS data and some or all APHIS forms using the method designated on the CBP Web site for the submission of the APHIS data and forms" (see 1607150020). Also on the horizon is the ACE mandatory use date for National Marine Fisheries Service data, coming in “late August or September,” CBP said.

ACE AESDirect will undergo an outage from 10 p.m. Eastern Aug. 13 to 4 a.m. Aug. 14, the Census Bureau said in an email. Filers may submit shipments under the AES Downtime Policy, which must be filed along with any new AES transactions in ACE AESDirect after the system comes back online. Census advised AES Downtime export users to contact the port of export before filing, and in lieu of an AES Proof of Filing citation, to use the AES Downtime citation, consisting of the phrase “AESDOWN,” individual company Filer ID and date.

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

CBP will launch a pilot to test electronic filing of protests in ACE, as part of a deployment of ACE protest capabilities set to begin Aug. 27. During the test, pilot participants will submit their electronic protests, checking a box to certify the protest filer has been given power of attorney, and will also be able to submit “additional arguments and supporting information electronically, with their electronic protest in ACE," CBP said in a notice (here). To be considered timely, protests must be filed by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on the filing deadline day, it said. Amendments to protests and requests for further review may be filed electronically, though requests for accelerated disposition will still require a paper submission, CBP said. Any party who wishes to participate in the ACE protest pilot, which will begin Aug. 29, may do so as long as it has an ACE Portal Protest Filer Account. CBP has said it plans to deploy protest capabilities in ACE and decommission the Automated Commercial System for protests on Aug. 27 (see 1608080015). The agency added protest accounts to the ACE Portal in a notice issued in early August (see 1608050027).