Washington U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc. are encouraging international traders to begin moving their import business process to CBPs Automated Commercial Environment. ACE is the commercial trade processing system being developed by CBP to facilitate legitimate trade and strengthen border security.

"Our partnership with the NCBFAA will certainly help expedite the industry's transition to ACE, said Allen Gina, assistant commissioner for CBP's Office of International Trade. "With the NCBFAA's active involvement, we expect to see ACE transactions increase dramatically."

Its time for our industry to support the development of the Automated Commercial Environment, said Jeff Coppersmith, president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America. This week, we asked NCBFAA members to begin their transition to ACE. Competitive advantages will begin to accumulate for those members who start transitioning to ACE now.

In early 2012, CBP plans to announce via Federal Register Notice the decommissioning of the Automated Manifest System for rail and sea shipments. AMS for rail and sea shipments will be the first piece of the CBP legacy trade processing system to be decommissioned. This move to ACE is currently anticipated for July 2012, or six months after the announcement.

Brokers interested in participating and filing their transactions in ACE should contact their CBP client representative.