CBP Releases its September 30, 2005 Quarterly Report to Congress on ACE (Part III - Final)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to its Web site its quarterly report on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entitled Report to Congress: The Automated Commercial Environment. This report is dated September 30, 2005 and covers the July 1, 2005 - September 30, 2005 period.
CBP states that this report provides a "snapshot" of current program status, highlighting recent accomplishments, challenges, cost and schedule status, and near-term milestones. CBP notes that this report also addresses the ongoing CBP efforts to support ACE expansion if required, and in engaging other Government agencies to participate in ACE/International Trade Data System (ITDS).
This is Part III, the final part of a multi-part series of summaries on CBP's quarterly report to Congress on ACE and highlights appendices on ACE implementation and capabilities, as well as the ACE schedule outlook.
According to CBP's report, the following is an outline of the features in future ACE releases, including CBP's current projections for its schedule of the Production Readiness Review (PRR) and the Operational Readiness Review (ORR):
Future ACE Secure Cargo Management Capabilities
Entry Summary, Accounts, and Revenue (Release 5)
Master Data and Enhanced Accounts
(PRR 10/02/06 and ORR 12/29/06)
- Import account types, including broker, carrier, Container Examination Station, Container Freight Station, driver, Foreign Trade Zone, operator, importer, surety, etc.
- Program participation automation for C-TPAT Administrative messaging
- Master and reference data in ACE
Entry Summary and Revenue
(PRR 07/02/07 and ORR 10/01/07)
- Entry summary and team review
- Post-release processing
- Quota
- Initial protest
- Reconciliation
- Bond sufficiency
- Finance processing
- Revenue and refund processing
- Billing and payment processing (including cash, Electronic Funds Transfer, and lockbox)
- Maintain CBP and non-CBP licenses, permits, and certificates
- Program participation automation for Managed Accounts and Container Security Initiative
E-Manifest: All Modes & Cargo Security (Release 6)
E-Manifest: Rail and Sea
(PRR 10/02/06 and ORR 12/29/06)
- Manifest receiving and correlation for sea/rail and conversion to multi-modal format
- Initial Multi-Modal Manifest reporting
- Rail and sea e-Release
- Monitor authorized movements
- Tracer for sea and rail
- Freedom of Information Act processing
E-Manifest: Air
(PRR 07/02/07 and ORR 10/01/07)
- Manifest receiving and correlation for air and conversion to multi-modal format
- Air e-Release
- Manifest, e-Release, and tracking for air courier
- Tracer for air
E-Manifest: Enhanced Tracking
(PRR 03/02/09 and ORR 06/01/09)
- Entry and release processing in ACE
- Cargo, conveyances, individuals, and equipment tracking
- Inter-modal manifest processing
- Accept all major entry types
- Tracer for all entry types
Exports & Cargo Control (Release 7)
(PRR 09/30/09 and ORR 12/31/09)
Drawback, Protest, and Importer Activity Summary Statement (IASS)
- Drawback
- Enhanced Protest
- IASS
- U.S. Principal Party of Interest Accounts
Final Exports and Manifest
- Manifest, e-Release, enforcement, and tracking for mail, hand-carry, and pipeline
- Export processing
- Tracer for exports, drawback, IASS
Future ACE Screening &Targeting (S&T) Capabilities
Screening Foundation (S1)
(PRR 12/22/05 and ORR 02/09/06)
- Business rules engine to enhance screening capabilities
- Initial release screening functionality using manifest and entry for air, rail, sea, and truck
- Initial criteria management and criteria impact assessment
Targeting Foundation (S2)
(PRR 07/27/06 and ORR 09/28/06)
- Extended criteria management and execution for entry summary related screening
- Initial targeting analysis foundation and criteria impact assessment
- Access to targeting analysis tools (i.e., Targeting Framework)
- Integration of commercial data sources
Advanced Targeting Capabilities (S3)
(PRR 12/14/06 and ORR 02/22/07)
- Extended targeting functionality and screening capability to include additional areas (e.g., drawback, export)
- Enhanced criteria management and criteria impact assessment
- Enforcement for entry summary
Full Screening and Targeting (S4)
(PRR 08/23/07 and ORR 12/06/07)
- Provide full functionality for all modes of transportation and all transactions
- Full targeting analysis platform
- Complete S&T capability for all PGAs
(See ITT's Online Archives or 01/13/06 and 01/17/06 news, 06011310 and 06011710, for Parts I and II.)
September 30, 2005 ACE quarterly report available at