Washington— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today announced that it successfully transferred 100 percent of impacted trade parties including ocean carriers, rail carriers and Automated Broker Interface software developers to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea. ACE now operates as the only CBP-approved electronic data interchange through which rail and sea manifests may be transmitted to the agency. The transition was completed a full 24 hours prior to the September 29 deadline.

“ACE is part of the CBP modernization process that is essential to facilitating trade and security, speeding the flow of commerce into the country,” said Deputy Commissioner David V. Aguilar. “I commend both CBP and trade stakeholders for efforts that led to a successful transition to ACE for cargo entering the country through the sea and rail environments.”

CBP announced the decommissioning of the legacy system for rail and sea manifests through the Federal Register after the successful completion of the test and the acceptance of ACE as the replacement system for rail and sea manifests. The notice commenced a six-month timeframe in which all users were transitioned to ACE.

The Automated Commercial Environment is a multi-year project to modernize the business processes essential to securing U.S. borders, speeding the flow of legitimate shipments, and targeting illicit goods. ACE is a key part of CBP’s layered defense to facilitate trade and border security.