The latest deployment of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), originally scheduled for July 8, will include liquidation, reconciliation, drawback, duty deferral, collections and the Automated Surety Interface (ASI).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday said it will postpone its July 8 deployment of the last core trade processing capabilities to be provided through the agency’s new umbrella computer system, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
This deployment is to include liquidation, reconciliation, drawback, duty deferral, collections and the Automated Surety Interface (ASI). It’s the fourth time that this stage of the ACE rollout has been delayed.
ACE promises to move these processes off the agency’s aging Automated Commercial System, as well as eliminate any lingering paper-based processing performed by the agency and import industry.
“We have been conducting ongoing, rigorous testing to ensure these capabilities will operate successfully. Our latest efforts have revealed areas specific to collections that are in need of further testing before these capabilities can be deployed,” CBP said in a statement. “Consequently, we are postponing the July 8, 2017 deployment, and are in the process of replanning. We will communicate further information as soon as possible.”
CBP said the new deployment date will be published in a Federal Register notice at least 30 days in advance of the actual deployment/mandatory transition.
Many U.S. importers and customs brokers, as well as industry organizations such as the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) and American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI), have been working hard to prepare their operations and systems for working in ACE, and were disappointed by the news of this delayed implementation in ACE.
“The trade feels that we are as ready for the implementation of drawback and duty deferral in ACE as we can be at this point. We have done considerable amounts of testing within the ACE certification environment for ACE and feel that the earlier the system is turned on, the better it will be for everyone,” said Dave Corn, vice president of one of the nation’s oldest drawback specialists, Comstock & Theakston Inc., and co-chairman of AAEI’s Drawback and Duty Deferral Committee.
Drawback is a refund of customs duties paid on imported materials that are either exported or used in the manufacture of exported articles. With appropriate documentation, an exporter can receive up to 99 percent of duties paid. For deeper insights into the changes to drawback in ACE, read Corn’s commentary in today’s Adam Smith Project.
“As this is the largest change for drawback claim transmission, we know there are going to be kinks in the system that have to be ironed out. We were hopeful for the July 8 date because it was going to give us time to work in ACE before the release of the NPRM (notice of proposed rulemaking) for the drawback regulations for the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA),” Corn said.
Industry specialists are urging importers and customs brokers to continue to prepare for the eventual implementation of these new processing requirements in ACE.
“Although the deadline has been pushed back now for the [fourth] time, importers participating in the reconciliation program should still continue to communicate with their brokers about how to handle flagging of the importer’s entries so that they can be best prepared for the eventual transition to ACE,” Los Angeles-based law firm Pisani & Roll recommended.
On June 8, CBP announced that all reconciliation entries must be filed through ACE, effective July 8. Additionally, starting July 8, all flagging of entries will be done in ACE, rather than by CBP for those importers who had been using blanket flagging, the law firm said.
“The NCBFAA appreciates CBP not forcing this last deploying on the trade if there are problems with the functionality,” said NCBFAA President Geoffrey Powell. “However, we would like to be involved with the decision when the revised date will be as there are implications to the trade the later we move into the year.”
“We want to push for a new date ASAP so that it does not in any way impact the implementation of TFTEA drawback in ACE scheduled for Feb. 24, 2018,” said Corn.
CBP delays ACE trade processing rollout again
