CBP releases ACE federal agency message set

CBP releases ACE federal agency message set    U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday released the final Participating Government Agencies (PGA) Message Set for Automated Commercial Environment, its future umbrella computer system.
   The PGA Message set is a harmonized set of information needed by federal agencies to approve imports of cargo. CBP enforces import laws for nearly 50 agencies.
   'The PGA Message Set will expedite legitimate trade by providing a single window through which the trade community can efficiently supply required data electronically through the Automated Commercial Environment,' said Cindy Allen, the ACE Business Office's executive director, in a statement.

Allen

   CBP expects to finish building the technology to enable the collection of the PGA Message Set later this year.
   PGA data has been submitted through manual paper forms, which is more labor-intensive and results in additional processing costs. Once incorporated into the ACE Cargo Release module, the PGA Message Set will extend the electronic record data set that is already provided to CBP to allow trade systems to submit PGA data electronically to CBP along with current required information.
   Additional work to reform policies, processes and regulatory changes is ongoing to streamline data submission and allow for a paperless system when ACE Cargo Release capabilities begin deploying in 2012.