Some government agencies may require document image system (DIS) form submissions as of Nov. 1 in place of Partner Government Agency message set filings during an interim stage, said Elizabeth McQueen of CBP's Automated Commercial Environment business office during a webinar. "For a given form, that's currently in paper that's going to be moved into electronic processing, it actually could be that we go PGA Message Set or it could be DIS, depending on the form and depending on the circumstance," she said. There are a number of reasons CBP would initially require DIS submissions, including "the readiness of the PGA to take in the individual data elements or it could be a rulemaking," she said. As of Nov. 1, CBP will require that all electronic cargo release filings be in ACE.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 9-13 in case they were missed.

CBP posted a number of documents ahead of the second part of its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) software developer session (here). The second part of sessions was rescheduled for March 27 at the U.S Department of Agriculture (here). The posted documents include the slides from several other agencies that were originally scheduled to present on March 4. The other agency presentations include:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to test out a “streamlined approach” to filing electronic certificates of compliance in its upcoming pilot program, said Carol Cave, director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance and Inspection, during a webinar on March 12. Agency officials envision a “certificate registry,” where full certificates of compliance containing all required data elements would be filed in advance of entry, said Cave. At time of entry, importers and brokers would then only have to provide a certificate number generated by the registry that would reference the full certificate, she said.

CBP posted the transcript (here) and presentation (here) from a March 4 webinar for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) software developers.

CBP additional guidance for other agencies interacting with the Automated Commercial Environment (see 1503090013):

The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership remains shielded behind closed doors, but U.S. compliance professionals are preparing for the sharp rise in trade flows and increased filing hurdles that are expected to accompany future implementation of the pact, several brokers and compliance consultants said in recent days. TPP chief negotiators are meeting in Hawaii this week, and speculation is rising over a conclusion to the deal. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman recently predicted a wrap-up of the talks at some point in 2015 (see 1502050058), but the U.S. has failed to meet deadlines set in the past by Froman and other TPP officials.

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

CBP posted the transcript (here) and presentation (here) from a March 9 webinar on Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) air import manifests.

CBP posted filing instructions within the Automated Commercial Environment for more participating government agencies (see1503090013) :