Exporter account registration and export trade reports went live in the Automated Commercial Environment on June 27 as expected, said the Census Bureau on July 1. Additional information for importer accountholders in ACE , including training material, is available (here), said Census. However, exporters with a current ACE import account or that have additional Employee Identification Numbers (EINs) that are not associated with a current ACE account “will be required to complete the U.S. Census Bureau’s vetting process for each EIN new to ACE,” it said. For technical questions related to ACE Exporter Account or ACE Trade Export Reports contact the CBP ACE Account Service Desk at 1-866-530-4172, selecting option 1, then option 2, or e-mail ACE.Support@cbp.dhs.gov, said Census.

CBP Miami will temporarily allow air carriers to accept copies of CBP Forms 3461, 7512 and/or 6043, the port director said in a information bulletin. "Filers and carriers not receiving the appropriate release messages, can present the appropriate entry packaged to the [Cargo Clearance Center] for release confirmation," it said. The temporary procedures are in response to ongoing problems with the Automated Commercial Environment Air Manifest transition. CBP allows the individual ports to provide work-around procedures while the agency continues to work to fix the problems (see 1506220016).

CBP released a new data dictionary (here) to help exporters classify Trade Export reports and make data objects more accessible to system users, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). The dictionary is meant to increase understanding of ACE reports and "assist users in identifying reports and/or data objects that best fulfill a particular business need and to encourage overall use of the reporting tool," CBP said. CBP will compile similar dictionaries for other stakeholder parties, including brokers, carriers, importers and sureties, it said.

A planned validation for Automated Commercial System cargo release entries that are subject to quota will not allow CBP to move up implementation of several quota-related entry types it recently delayed until Oct. 31, said a CBP spokeswoman. Instead, the validation, which was originally set for implementation on June 27 before CBP postponed deployment so it could focus on continuing air manifest issues (see 1506290018), will serve to “reject entries that are subject to Quota and filed with an incorrect entry type,” said the spokeswoman.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 22-26 in case they were missed.

CBP should require use of the Automated Commercial Environment only for capabilities that have been in production for at least six months, said Trade Support Network industry members in a June 26 letter to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske and other government officials involved in the ACE transition. The TSN group, the Trade Leadership Council (TLC), said there's too much at risk to proceed with the current ACE and International Trade Data System transition plan. While the council didn't specifically ask for a delay to the current deadline, such a revision would mark a major shift to CBP's plans.

CBP postponed the planned June 27 update for the Automated Commercial Environment "to provide a more stable environment for the air industry," said CBP in a June 26 CSMS message (here). "CBP will continue to work with the air industry to assess system performance and communicate a new date for" the deployment, the agency said. CBP did update ACE to allow for an "exporter" account type, as planned (see 1506260007), said CBP. The agency continues to work to fix problems with ACE Air Manifest (see 1506230030).

As part of the June 27 Automated Commercial Environment deployment, CBP will add a new account type within the ACE Secure Data Portal, the agency said (here). CBP will also add "a new system validation will automatically reject ACE Cargo Release entries that are subject to quota and entered" without the correct entry type, it said. "Until November 1, 2015, entries that are subject to quota must be filed in the Automated Commercial System (ACS)." The validation feature is hoped to allow for earlier than planned industry testing of 11 entry types ahead of the Nov. 1 requirement for entry summary and cargo release filing in ACE, a CBP official recently said (see 1506030054).

CBP posted a set of presentations used by government agencies at the 2015 Trade Support Network conference held June 23-25:

The CBP Los Angeles Field Office again extended interim work-around procedures in response to continued problems with Automated Commercial Environment for air manifests. Through June 31, it will allow for carriers and Container Freight Station operators to accept Form 3461 signed by the broker "without fear of penalty for entries that have generated a paperless release (to include split shipments)," the field office said in a notice. CBP said some carriers are unable to see release notifications (1C), which have posed a problem since the agency transitioned from the Air Automated Manifest System into the ACE on June 7 (see 1506110007). Carriers and CFS operators may also accept screen printouts of ACE cargo entry releases submitted by the broker, said CBP. "The printout should have at a minimum the shipment ID and quantity being released as well as clear identification of who presented the release information," it said. The carriers and CFS operators may also accept signed Form 7512 when the 1C or 1D aren't posted, it said.