Customs ACEs the IT test (page 3)
-- Logistics Management, 8/1/2005
Page 3 of 4
Unprecedented Access
One of the most remarkable aspects of ACE is the degree to which CBP has not only shared information with members of the trade community, but has also involved them in developing and implementing the project. For example, the agency has posted unusually detailed information about ACE's progress on its website. (See the sidebar, at left.)
Through the Trade Support Network (TSN), an advisory group of experts in international trade operations, ACE users are intimately involved in the program. More than 300 people representing government and private industry participate in TSN's many committees. As a result, importers, customs brokers, carriers in all modes, customs attorneys, and other stakeholders are helping to shape every detail of the way ACE operates and what it accomplishes.
CBP also has given the trade community unprecedented access to information through a subset of TSN, known as Trade Ambassadors. The 28 Trade Ambassadors are recognized as being among the most knowledgeable and committed participants in the modernization process. According to FedEx's Litman, a Trade Ambassador himself, they are so deeply involved in ACE that they have received security clearance to participate in high-level security meetings.
There's more than just goodwill behind CBP's decision to include stakeholders in almost every aspect of ACE development. Involving them has most likely added years to ACE's timeline. But it's been worth the time and effort, CBP officials have publicly said, because the system ultimately will change how international trade is managed and conducted on a day-to-day basis. Thus, to keep the increasing flow of imports moving swiftly and avoid slowdowns that could adversely affect the national economy, it's critical that ACE be a system that the trade community can fully support.
The advisory groups have certainly had plenty to say. They have been instrumental in pointing out the potential impact of technical changes on daily operations. They're also discussing policy issues, such as the future relationship between CBP's trade-facilitation personnel and regulatory auditors under ACE, Litman said.
One of the trade community's primary concerns has been CBP's focus on ACE as an anti-terrorism tool for risk assessment and tracking shipments. Initially, CBP had required participation in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) as a criterion for using ACE. That requirement was retracted in February after the advisory groups said it was unacceptable to make C-TPAT, a voluntary program, a requirement for ACE, which will be mandatory.
Allocation of funding for both security-related and trade-facilitation aspects of ACE has been another issue that troubles international traders.
"We remain concerned that there be an equitable balance and allocation of resources between the focus on security and trade facilitation," says Hall Northcott, president and CEO of the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI). "There are so many competing demands that CBP rightfully carries, and we believe that it's essential that they ensure sufficient resources to maintain and enhance that balance." Continued...
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