Some ACE Filing Pilots for PGAs Still Lack Participants, Says CBP Official

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – CBP’s partner government agency (PGA) filing pilots in the Automated Commercial Environment are still hampered by a lack of participants, said Steve Hilsen, leader of International Trade Data System efforts at CBP, speaking at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade Northeast Cargo Symposium on Oct. 27. Some PGAs are “ready to roll” with their pilot programs, but have yet to attract a single volunteer, he said.

According to data provided by Hilsen, some PGA pilots seen more participation than others. As of Oct. 8, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s pilot on tires and helmets and the ports of Atlanta, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Savannah and Jacksonville has seen 94 filings, and the Food and Drug Administration’s pilot on filing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices at Philadelphia and Otay Mesa has had 74. Two export-focused pilots, the Environmental Protection Agency’s test on lead-acid batteries and the Census Bureau’s ACE portal/AES Direct pilot have seen 7,541 and 305 filings, respectively.

However, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ pilot at Norfolk had seen nine entries as of Oct. 8. The EPA’s pesticide import pilot and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Lacey Act pilot had each only processed three. “We need more folks getting engaged,” said Hilsen. It’s not often you will see an agency “work with you one on one,” and “you may want to take advantage of that,” he said.

On the overall readiness of ACE, Hilsen mirrored concerns recently voiced by CBP’s Brenda Smith on the readiness of the trade community for the ACE transition in the run up to February (see 1510190017). With the agency set to issue a final rule in January that will make ACE the only electronic filing system as of Feb. 28, the latest CBP statistics still show only 60 percent of entry summaries being filed in ACE, even though ACE entry summary “has been out for several years,” he said. Recent cargo release statistics show ACE usage at ten percent, said Hilsen, though he noted that cargo release is tied to the ongoing deployment of PGA requirements. “Where are we at? Not where we need to be,” said Hilsen. “We’ve been talking about this for a decade, and it’s actually happening now.”