ITDS PILOT “ON HOLD”

ITDS PILOT “ON HOLD”

ITDS PILOT “ON HOLD”

   The U.S. government’s International Trade Data System pilot has been put “on hold,” while the country tightens its border security.
   ITDS was developed several years to serve as a “front end” to Customs’ future computer system, the Automated Commercial Environment, and to provide about 100 federal agencies with international trade data. A pilot of the system was implemented in Buffalo, N.Y. last month.
   “At this time, we don’t need any exception-based processes while Customs is on high alert,” said Thompson W. Anastasi, vice president of northern border operations for Buffalo-based customs broker Tower Group International, and a participant in the ITDS pilot.
   ITDS did, however, experience three “successful” days of testing before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. About 20 shipments were processed through the system, Anastasi said.
   “It worked end-to-end,” Anastasi added. “We didn’t have any problems with it.”
   Meanwhile, Customs indicated it plans to reorganize its ITDS staff to align more closely with its ACE development. There’s also a continued effort to get other agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, more streamlined within the ITDS process.