CBP taking applications for ACE truck manifest test

CBP taking applications for ACE truck manifest test    Motor carriers who have set up accounts with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be eligible to participate in a test to transmit electronic manifest data in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) beginning in December, CBP announced.
   ACE is being developed in several phases to replace the current Customs computerized reporting system (Automated Commercial System) and will have many more capabilities for communicating with and collecting trade data from importers, exporters, brokers and carriers. Under the Trade Act, CBP is requiring carriers in all transport modes to prefile manifest data about their cargo before arrival at a U.S. port of entry so analysts can identify loads with potential criminal or terrorist connections.
   In August, CBP said by Nov. 15 truckers using any of 40 ports of entry in seven states must begin electronically filing truck manifest one hour in advance of arrival at the border, or 30 minutes in advance if the carrier participates in the Free and Secure Trade Lanes (FAST) preclearance program. Other border ports will be phased in during the following two months. Under the new rule, truckers will no longer be able to show up at the border and hand over paper shipping documents. However, since there is no automated data exchange system for trucks in the Automated Commercial System, motor carriers will have to use electronic transmission systems originally set up for other purposes. Truckers can rely on their customs brokers to file their manifest information through the Automated Broker Interface as part of the barcode-based Pre-Arrival Processing System and in-bond reporting systems. FAST participating carriers have their own system to submit shipping data and getting the green light at the customs booth.
   Imports cleared under the Border Release Advanced Selectivity System (BRASS), an expedited cargo processing program, have been exempt from the advance reporting requirement. BRASS is a line release program popular at many northern ports that allows low-risk, high-volume commodities from preapproved Canadian shippers to be screened in advance. Customs can release the truck once it hits the border with a simple barcode scan of preloaded shipper information contained in the driver’s bill of lading. However, CBP has closed the program to new applicants and plans to drop from the program companies with fewer than 50 import shipments per year.
   Under the ACE test, motor carriers will be able to electronically transmit the truck manifest data and obtain release of their cargo, driver and equipment via the ACE portal or electronic data interchange messaging. Initial testing will take place at the ports of Blaine, Wash., and Buffalo, N.Y. The test program will later expand to Champlain, N.Y.; Detroit; Laredo, Texas; Otay Mesa, Calif.; and Port Huron, Mich.
   For more information on how to participate in the test, visit https://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-20585.pdf .