A Federal Register notice announcing a Consumer Product Safety Commission pilot of electronic filing of certificates of compliance has been drafted and is currently under consideration by the agency’s five commissioners, said Carol Cave, CPSC assistant executive director-import surveillance, at the July 29 meeting of the CBP Advisory Committee of Commercial Operations in Chicago. If approved, CPSC now intends to begin the pilot in July 2016, five months later than earlier anticipated, she said.

CBP deactivated 199 port codes in the Automated Commercial Environment, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). The deactivated codes (here) apply to non-cargo processing locations, CBP said. "At this time, cargo will not be able to be arrived and/or released from any of the identified Port Codes."

CBP has not formally recommended any change to the planned mandatory use date for Automated Commercial Environment cargo release and entry summary filing, said Brenda Smith, CBP assistant commissioner for the Office of International Trade. "We have not made a formal recommendation to the White House today," said Smith in a July 30 interview. The top lobbyist for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America recently said CBP has gone to the White House with a recommendation to extend the Nov. 1 deadline by as much as six months, and is currently awaiting a response (see 1507290016).

CBP should adopt a “phased adoption” schedule for implementation of Automated Commercial Environment entry summary and cargo release, delaying ACE requirements for partner government agencies and entry types that are currently still in the early stages of development, said the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations in recommendations adopted at a meeting held July 29 in Chicago. The agency should also adopt an “informed compliance” approach for entry summary and cargo release, holding laggards accountable but keeping the Automated Commercial System online as a fallback for filers having trouble with the transition, it said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is soliciting participants for its pilot of the ATF partner government agency message set in the Automated Commercial Environment, it said in a notice (here). Beginning on Aug. 19, the pilot will allow importers and customs brokers to submit ATF-required data elements, including program codes, category type codes, ATF category code, type codes and exemption codes, to CBP through ACE. CBP will then electronically transmit entry and release information to ATF. Requests to participate from importers and brokers may be submitted at any time before or during the pilot to Willliam Majors at William.Majors@atf.gov.

CBP updated the Automated Commercial Environment and Automated Commercial System to allow for Generalized System of Preference duty-free claims on July 29, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). The renewed GSP became effective on that date, meaning CBP is now accepting new GSP claims and will soon begin refund processing for GSP claims submitted after it expired in 2013 (see 1507210023).

CBP may be moving toward pushing back the Nov. 1 mandatory use date of the Automated Commercial Environment for electronic entry summary and cargo release filing, said Jon Kent, a lobbyist for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association. Kent spoke during an NCBFAA webinar on July 28. The NCBFAA and others groups told CBP in recent months that the planned ACE timeline may not allow for sufficient testing by industry and the government and that more time is needed (see 1507170020).

CBP made some changes in its draft Automated Commercial Environment business process document (here). CBP recently posted a first draft last month and requested industry comments (see 1505180010). The processes document is expected to function as the "cornerstone" for both the trade and port personnel (see 1504270018).

CBP will again allow for duty-free processing Generalized System of Preferences claims through the Automated Commercial Environment and Automated Commercial System beginning at 7 a.m. on July 29, the agency said. (here). The program was recently renewed after a multi-year lapse and CBP released guidance on procedures for past and future GSP claims (see 1507210023).

CBP posted its draft agenda and some other agency documents (here) for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on July 29. The COAC will likely make some recommendations related to the planned transition date for the Automated Commercial Environment (see 1507150063), though no such recommendations were posted as of press time.