Use of ACE for electronic filing continues to steadily increase, a good sign ahead of the planned July 23 mandatory use date for the vast majority of electronic filings, CBP said in a news release (here). "More than 95 percent of all cargo imported into the United States was processed electronically in ACE" as of June 17, the agency said. CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske commended CBP and the Food and Drug Administration for the recent required switch to ACE for FDA entries and entry summaries under entry types 01, 03, 06, 11, 23, 51 and 52 (see 1606160012). “CBP is very pleased with the results of our mandatory ACE transitions to date, including our most recent transition on June 15th," he said. "To ensure trade filers were prepared for this transition, CBP and FDA worked closely to conduct a series of trade filing exercises to iron out any FDA filing issues in advance of June 15th.” The next mandatory use date, July 23, is a major one, with the most remaining entry types -- including those involving quotas (see 1606060019) -- transitioning to ACE.

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

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 13-17 in case they were missed.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will revise its regulations to allow for use of the International Trade Data System (ITDS), the agency said in a notice (here). Effective as of June 21, APHIS will remove requirements for paper submissions for import or export of animals, animal products, plant and plant products, it said. "The amendments we are making in this final rule are not to mandate the use of electronic systems or preclude the use of paper documents; rather, they address those instances where our regulations specify a submission method to the exclusion of other methods," APHIS said.

The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will consider several regulatory changes meant "to clarify and streamline import procedures, and support the implementation of the International Trade Data System," it said in a notice (here). The proposal applies to regulations "governing the importation of distilled spirits, wine, beer and malt beverages, tobacco products, processed tobacco, and cigarette papers and tubes," it said. Comments on the proposal are due by Aug. 22.

Prior Notice confirmation numbers can be obtained through the Food and Drug Administration's Prior Notice System Interface, ACE or the Automated Commercial System until July 23, CBP said in a CSMS message (here). "Following that date, ACE and the FDA PNSI will be the only systems available to provide a Prior Notice Confirmation Number," CBP said. "The ACS functionality will completely transition to ACE on July 23rd, 2016."

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

The move to ACE for the vast majority of Food and Drug Administration entries and entry summaries went without major complications, the FDA and customs brokers said. "We are very pleased that a lot of brokers have fully embraced the transition to ACE" and "FDA’s times for processing entries have actually decreased in ACE," Doug Stearn, director of the FDA’s Office of Enforcement and Import Operations, said in an email. Electronic filing of FDA entries and entry summaries under entry types 01, 03, 06, 11, 23, 51 and 52 was required in ACE as of June 15, though the agencies said they would allow for some leeway for filers using the old system (see 1606100012). Those seven entry types account for some 90 percent of entries that FDA sees (see 1605270002). CBP didn't comment.

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

There's already a "strong case" to quickly expand pre-inspection programs for goods entering the U.S. from Mexico based on the ongoing pilots, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said while speaking June 15 at a Wilson Center event about the U.S.-Mexico border (here). Despite the promising early stages of the programs (see 1601130018), there are some political issues, particularly immigration and border security, that make more rapid expansion difficult, Kerlikowske said. "I think more can be accomplished as we look at these pilot programs," but "I would not expect significant changes" in the near future as evaluation continues, he said. "There's nothing that I would see in the future that would inhibit expansion and discussion around some of these."