CBP reaches out to P.R.’s trade sector on ACE transition
Marcelino Borges, director of field operations for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, addresses the audience at the symposium.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection San Juan Office of Field Operations hosted Wednesday the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Symposium to familiarize the local trade community about the transition to a single window for import and export reporting.
The event featured a presentation by Stephen Hilsen, director for the CBP Office of International Trade before an audience of customs brokers to ensure their understanding and preparation for the imminent transition to ACE as the primary system through which the trade community will report imports and exports and the government will determine admissibility, and the corresponding decommission of legacy systems by the end of 2016.
“We want to stress with small and medium-sized filers in Puerto Rico that they understand the implications of the transition and that they prepare,” said Hilsen.
ACE will automate and enhance interaction between international trade partners, CBP, and Partner Government Agencies during the cargo import and export process, significantly increasing efficiency and reducing costs compared to the manual, paper-based interactions in place to-date, the agency said.
Effective Feb. 28, filers will only be permitted to file in ACE and no longer permitted to file in the Automated Commercial System all electronic entries and associated entry summaries.
In addition, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will have to file their electronic data in the ACE system, CPB said.
Through ACE as the Single Window, manual processes will be streamlined and automated, paper will be eliminated, and the international trade community will be able to more easily and efficiently comply with U.S. laws and regulations, CPB said.
