Part of electronic truck manifest project on hold again
The Web-based portal established for carriers participating in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection pilot test of an electronic truck manifest at the Blaine, Wash., border checkpoint has been out of commission for a week.
The electronic manifest is a key component of the Automated Commercial Environment computer system under development to handle transactions and communication with the trade.
CBP shut down the portal March 18 to make technical corrections to the system, Louis Samenfink, executive director of the agency’s Modernization Office, confirmed earlier this week. The portal was still out of service Thursday night, according to the ACE technical support desk.
Samenfink said the problems have to do with the way ACE is managing carrier information and interfacing with existing cargo release systems. Electronic data interchange transmissions of manifest data were unaffected by the portal shutdown.
The system problem will not affect cross-border traffic because no more than a couple of carriers are certified to use the system.
CBP restarted its pilot test program in Blaine Jan. 31 after a one-month interruption to correct technical problems that arose after the test began in mid-December.