The State Department Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Marine Conservation will conduct a pilot “after July 25” to test submission of forms and/or data related to importation of shrimp and shrimp products using the Partner Government Agency (PGA) Message Set and Document Imaging System of ACE, State said (here). Initially, PGA Message Set data may be submitted only for entry types 01 and 11 filed at certain ports, State said. Eligible participants for the pilot comprise brokers and self-filing importers who have the ability to file ACE Entry Summaries certified for cargo release and ACE cargo release, and who file entries for shrimp and shrimp products, State said.

The Food and Drug Administration is "providing priority processing for ACE entries of FDA-regulated products," CBP said in a CSMS message (here). "The data shows average processing time for manual review and release of ACE submitted entries is 25% faster than for [Automated Commercial System] submitted entries, and release times for document reviews is 33% faster than for ACS submitted entries (a time savings of 1 ½ days)," it said. "We expect review times to improve as entry filers make the transition to ACE; FDA will be updating the data and charts on a weekly basis." Starting June 15, use of ACE will be mandatory for electronic FDA cargo release and entry summary submissions, a major milestone in the ACE transition (see 1606100012). The FDA also created a new page on its website dedicated to the ACE transition (here). The FDA will also use "production calls" to give guidance to importers and entry filers on ACE and will "allow FDA and CBP to collaborate on entries requiring attention from both agencies," CBP said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 6-10 in case they were missed.

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

CBP plans to add the ability to file electronic protests in ACE, the agency said in a notice (here). "CBP is proposing to add the capability of electronically filing protests to ACE," it said. "A protest is a procedure whereby a private party may administratively challenge a CBP decision regarding imported merchandise and certain other CBP decisions." CBP will require data on the organization, the ACE account owner and points of contact for protest filer accounts, it said. The move to a fully electronic process will facilitate the ability for CBP to send protests to the Centers of Excellence and Expertise and to other ports, a software developer recently said of the changes (see 1604220031).

There remains insufficient rationale behind a Department of Energy proposal to require filing of “certifications of admissibility” in ACE at time of entry for products subject to energy efficiency standards, a group of trade associations told the DOE in June 10 comments (here). The notice "seems to indicate that DOE is planning to continue down the same misguided path to further regulate importers who are already compliant with DOE’s regulations for no definable purpose and with no achievable outcome," the groups said. The DOE reopened the comment period on the proposal after industry members voiced a wide range of concerns about the plan (see 1605130022).

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

CBP and Food and Drug Administration officials outlined transition procedures for the June 15 ACE mandatory use date for most FDA cargo release and entry summary submissions, during a June 9 webinar conducted by the agencies and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. CBP will on June 15 begin rejecting ACE entries that are flagged for FDA but are not accompanied by partner government agency (PGA) data, a CBP official said. However, the legacy ACE remains online and available as a fallback until July 23, and CBP will handle ACS filers on a “case-by-case basis” until that date, sending error messages and reaching out to non-ACE filers to get them aboard, he said. As CBP has previously said (see 1605270002), the agency will shut off ACS on July 23 and filers will “no longer have the ACS alternative,” the official said.

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

ARLINGTON, Va. -- As the Food and Drug Administration readies for CBP’s June 15 deadline for filing of FDA entries and entry summaries in ACE, other agencies have further to go before their partner government agency (PGA) filing capabilities become available, government officials said during a panel discussion at the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference. Despite indications from CBP that the Environmental Protection Agency would be among the agencies scheduled for ACE filing this summer, EPA now looks like it won’t be ready until closer to the end of the year, one EPA official said. Likewise, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, though nearing the start of its e-filing pilot, may not be ready for full ACE filing until 2019 or 2020, the commission’s import director said.