Industry wants ACE deadline relaxed

   Representatives from the trade community are asking U.S. Customs and Border Protection to postpone the Nov. 1 deadline for mandatory filing of all customs entries in the new Automated Commercial Environment, because many companies won’t have integrated the new data requirements in their systems by then.
   In a letter to CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, dated June 26, the leaders of the Trade Support Network said the government and private sector are still in the process of developing the necessary programs for ACE and the International Trade Data System.
   TSN is a group of about 270 trade practitioners who meet regularly in committees to provide input about procedures, systems requirements, policies or other issues associated with CBP’s modernization effort. 
   “Adherence to this deadline threatens to compromise the investments made by the government and the private sector and to disrupt commerce between the United States and the rest of the world. A misstep by the United States
with respect to the implementation of a ‘single window’ will set back similar efforts in other areas of the world. We are concerned that proceeding with the Nov. 1, 2015, deadline will result in unwarranted expense and disruption for both the trade and the U.S. government and will harm future and ongoing efforts to continue the development of ACE/ITDS,” the industry group said.
   ACE is U.S. Customs’ next-generation enterprise computer system for managing international trade flows and security. It’s a 15-year project that has had development ups-and-downs and cost more than $3.2 billion. It offers a simplified process for reporting shipment data, and interacting with federal agencies, in the process eliminating the use of paper-based forms. And it will serve as the backbone for ITDS, which is the intra-governmental channel through which information will be shared back and forth with other relevant agencies rather than filing redundant data to each one with jurisdiction over a cross-border shipment.
   On Nov. 1, CBP plans to shut off the legacy Automated Commercial System and force all filers to ACE. Officials for months have been urging customs brokers and importers to upgrade their systems to talk with ACE and get certified—or face the danger of losing business.
   The ACE entry summary function has been available since 2009, yet with only four months left before the Nov. 1 deadline, only 60 percent of entry summaries are filed through ACE. For ACE cargo release, the numbers are less than 10 percent, according to TSN. CBP has targeted the top 200 filers and urged them to start transmitting cargo release filing and associated entry summaries in ACE. 
   There are about 3,150 entities that electronically file entries with CBP through ACS or ACE. 
   The industry experts expressed concern that companies don’t have enough time to fully integrate ACE cargo release and entry functions into their business processes. Part of the lag is due to skepticism that CBP would complete ACE, but an internal reorganization and new software development methods have led to rapid releases of functionality during the past three years. 
   It’s ironic that after all these years of complaints by industry that Customs was dragging its feet on implementing ACE, it is the private sector that now wants the government to slow down.
   The biggest stumbling block, according to TSN, is that most government agencies participating in ACE haven’t made their technical specifications available yet to allow software vendors to program the new functionality into their products. Many participating government agencies are just beginning to launch pilot programs to test the functionality, Federal Register notices about the pilots have not been published and implementation guidelines are not finalized. And until processes and procedures are locked down, companies can’t train their employees how to use the new system.
   Furthermore, TSN said, cargo release functions have not been adequately tested. The cargo release process will become much more complex as messages from 15 additional agencies are added to the process. 
   There is not enough time for agencies to carry out the pilots, gather feedback and make any necessary adjustments to applications, processes, procedures and training before Nov. 1.
   “CBP and the trade have learned through experience that even with extensive testing in the certification environment, new problems appear when the system is moved into production and these issues may take months to resolve,” TSN’s letter said.
   In fact, CBP postponed for five weeks the May 1 mandatory filing of electronic air import manifests in ACE to allow air carriers time to address coding issues associated with the new messaging standards.
   “These problems, however, will pale in comparison to the problems that will result from mandating the use of ACE/ITDS for cargo release and entry summary before these processes are adequately tested,” TSN said.
   In asking for a delay, it said the Nov. 1 deadline was set before President Obama ordered all agencies to be on the ITDS system by the end of 2016, which expanded the scope of the project. And, TSN noted, Obama’s order doesn’t mandate full use of the new systems by Dec. 31, 2016.
   “While the Trade Leadership Council supports CBP’s effort to drive the mandated use of ACE/ITDS as soon as
possible, we are not aware of any external mandate that requires the exclusive use of ACE/ITDS by Nov. 1, 2015, a deadline which is not realistic and will create substantial harm,” the letter said.
   The industry representatives recommended that CBP only mandate ACE/ITDS use after proper testing, issuance of policies and guidelines have been completed, and applications have been in production for six months.
   “It is also essential that CBP publish a contingency and business resumption plan in advance of any implementation of mandated ACE/ITDS. Establishing a deployment mechanism along these lines substantially
increases the probability that full deployment of ACE/ITDS will be a success and will provide the desired benefits to the government and the trade,” TSN said.

This column was published in the August 2015 issue of American Shipper.