June 26, 2015
Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske
U. S. Customs and Border Protection
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20229
Re:
November 1, 2015 Implementation Date for Mandatory Use of the Automated
Commercial Environment/International Trade Data System
Dear Commissioner Kerlikowske,
The members of Trade Leadership Council (“TLC”) of the Trade Support Network are on
the forefront of the development of the Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”). TLC
members include leading importers, exporters, customshouse brokers, freight forwarders, carriers
and software developers who have invested significant time and resources, often with the loss of
opportunity to better focus on current operations, in working with Customs and Border
Protection (“CBP”) to develop and test ACE/ITDS. As such, the TLC represents the members of
the business community (the “Trade”) that are best able to appreciate the challenges associated
with meeting any deadlines for the mandated use of ACE/ITDS as a “single window” for
international trade with the United States.
The TLC appreciates the substantial work that CBP and the Partner Government
Agencies (“PGAs”) have put into creating systems to facilitate international trade and trade
enforcement by providing CBP and over 40 PGAs with the information and resources required to
accomplish their missions at the nation’s borders more efficiently and effectively. The TLC
looks forward to the system becoming fully operational.
After careful consideration, however, the TLC is convinced that the plan for mandatory
use of ACE/ITDS for all entry summaries and cargo release transactions, including the new PGA
message sets, on November 1, 2015 is premature. Adherence to this deadline threatens to
compromise the investments made by the government and the private sector and to disrupt
commerce between the United States and the rest of the world. A misstep by the United States
with respect to the implementation of a single window will set back similar efforts in other areas
of the world. We are concerned that proceeding with the November 1, 2015 deadline will result
in unwarranted expense and disruption for both the Trade and the U.S. Government and will
harm future and ongoing efforts to continue the development of ACE/ITDS.
The mandatory use of ACE/ITDS by the November 1, 2015 deadline requires completion
of the following four elements by the Trade and by the Government over the next four months
for 100% implementation to be successful:
•
the development testing and implementation of the necessary computer
applications;
•
the development of the necessary processes and procedures to take advantage of
the automation;
•
the promulgation of required policies and regulations; and
•
the training of personnel to operate within the new environment
ACE/ITDS is not sufficiently advanced for mandatory 100% implementation by
November 1, 2015, despite the fact that significant progress has been made on all four elements.
CBP and the PGAs are still in the process of developing the necessary programs, which was
again confirmed at the recent TSN plenary session. Pilot programs with most of the PGAs are
just now beginning. The processes and procedures have not been fully defined. Federal Register
notices have not yet been published and implementation guides have not been finalized. Finally,
until processes and procedures are developed, training cannot be initiated.
The basics of cargo release have not been adequately tested. CBP reports that only about
5% of cargo releases are currently being processed through ACE. The cargo release process,
however, is about to become significantly more complex as PGA messages from 15 additional
agencies are brought on line. Piloting of these systems is to start next month, a schedule that does
not allow sufficient time to assure that the four elements enumerated above are addressed. CBP
and the Trade have learned through experience that even with extensive testing in the
certification environment, new problems appear when the system is moved into production and
these issues may take months to resolve. As evidenced by the recent Air AMS rollout,
inadequate testing results in a significant negative impact on shipment processing. These
problems, however, will pale in comparison to the problems that will result from mandating the
use of ACE/ITDS for cargo release and entry summary before these processes are adequately
tested.
The November 1, 2015 deadline was set before the scope of the project was expanded as
a result of the issuance of the Executive Order entitled Streamlining The Export/Import Process
For America's Businesses on February 19, 2014. This expansion of scope requires a
corresponding change in the deadline for the mandatory use of ACE/ITDS. The Executive Order
requires government entities to have the necessary capabilities by December 31, 2016 -- more
than a year after the current “mandatory” date for exclusive use of ACE/ITDS. The Executive
Order does not require the Trade and the Government to mandate the full use of these systems by
December 31, 2016, much less November 1, 2015.
While the TLC supports CBP’s effort to drive the mandated use of ACE/ITDS as soon as
possible, we are not aware of any external mandate that requires the exclusive use of ACE/ITDS
by November 1, 2015, a deadline which is not realistic and will create substantial harm.
Inevitably, as experienced with the deployment of various ACE functionalities, unanticipated
problems with the systems, policies and procedures can impact the ability to move cargo and
disrupt the orderly conduct of business at tremendous cost to the economy of the United States.
The mandated use of ACE/ITDS on November 1, 2015 will negatively impact substantially all
trade to and from the United States. Given this impact, we urge CBP to consider deployment on
the basis of readiness, including the production status of all four elements outlined above, rather
than on an adherence to an arbitrary deadline.
-2-
The TLC looks forward to working with CBP to establish a mechanism to encourage the
rapid adoption of ACE by the Trade. Initially, we suggest that CBP only mandate use of
ACE/ITDS after the applicable systems, and the four elements outlined above, have been in
production, without substantive modification for at least 6 months. It is also essential that CBP
publish a contingency and business resumption plan in advance of any implementation of
mandated ACE/ITDS. Establishing a deployment mechanism along these lines substantially
increases the probability that the full deployment of ACE/ITDS will be a success and will
provide the desired benefits to the Government and the Trade.
Sincerely,
The Trade Leadership Council of the Trade Support Network
Cc:
Christine Turner, Director, Global Supply Chain Security, National Security Council
Jeff Weiss, Chairman, Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC)
Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary (Acting), Department of Homeland Security
Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
Timothy Skud, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax, Trade and Tariff Policy), U.S. Department of
the Treasury
Christa Brzozowski, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
-3-