INDUSTRY LOBBY TAKES ACE FUNDING MESSAGE TO NEW TREASURY SECRETARY

   If the new U.S. Treasury secretary isn’t aware of the industry’s efforts
to fund Custom’s future umbrella system, he will soon.
   The Coalition for Customs Automation Funding, a group of about 200
companies and industry associations, is drafting a letter to newly
appointed Treasury Secretary Larry Summers outlining the critical need to fund Customs’ Automated Commercial Environment.
   The group also wants to ensure that funding is available to keep
Customs’ 15-year-old Automated Commercial System alive while the new system is being built.
   "Your leadership on this issue, Mr. Secretary, can ensure that a
catastrophic failure of the current system — with it’s impact on both
Treasury and the U.S. economy — does not occur," the draft letter said.
   So far, about 80 presidents and chief executive officers of mostly
retail and manufacturing firms have signed the letter, said the coalition’s
executive director Robin Lanier.
   The letter is expected to be sent to Summers’ office next week.