ACE filing rate reaches new highs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it has seen more importers and customs brokers filing import documents in its new computer system.    The participation rate in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) new cargo processing system has spiked in recent weeks as new electronic filing requirements for industry become mandatory.
   CBP recently announced that more than 75 percent of all import shipments – about 81,000 per day – are now being processed electronically in the Automated Commercial Environment. ACE is also processing about 97 percent of entry summaries, which are reported within 10 days of goods entering the country and include duties, taxes and fees.
   The agency is rolling out the final pieces of functionality this year and forcing importers, exporters and customs brokers to switch to the new system for obtaining customs clearance and filing necessary documents. ACE will also serve as the pipeline for transmissions between the trade community and other government agencies, with information only entered once and automatically routed to relevant agencies that will be able to make near real-time decisions on admissibility, speeding up cargo flows. President Obama has ordered partner government stakeholders to have processes and IT systems ready to synch with ACE by the end of this year.
   The next key milestone in the transition to ACE/Single Window is May 28, when filers will be required to file in ACE electronic entries (cargo release) for the most commonly filed entry types, as well as Foreign Trade Zone entries and entry summaries.
   In March, 42 percent of entries and 84 percent of entry summaries were processed in ACE. CBP is encouraging traders to transition out of the legacy Automated Commercial System as soon as possible because once ACE is fully operational the ACS will be decommissioned.