For CBP, ACE is more than just a cutting-edge tool for enhancing national security. It's also a matter of self-preservation—a means of keeping the U.S. economy moving and of keeping up with increasing demands on the agency's limited resources.

The efficiency benefits for CBP can't be underestimated. Electronic manifesting for trucks at the Mexican and Canadian borders, now mid-way through rollout, will give agents all the data they need to clear vehicles before they arrive at their windows. Eventually, ACE will replace ACS and five other processing systems, including the Automated Export System (AES) and the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) programs. And it will interface with a number of federal criminal, immigration, and anti-terrorism databases.

Until ACE has been completely implemented and all international traders have been migrated to the new system, CBP must continue to maintain ACS and synchronize it with each new ACE module. That is an enormous undertaking that will challenge the technical capabilities of both the government and the private contractors that are helping CBP to build and implement ACE, says Banks.

In addition to those considerations, ACE development must also take into account the requirements of other federal agencies and even foreign governments, he adds. CBP is now including technical and operations experts from the Mexican and Canadian customs agencies in planning sessions, with an eye toward creating a North American information system. The World Customs Organization is also being consulted. And the need to meet the demands of such federal oversight agencies as the Office of Management and Budget and the General Accounting Office will also put CBP's abilities to the test, Banks says.

But no matter how challenging the project becomes, there can be no turning back. ACE will not only change the way the trade community does business with government, but it will also change how businesses do business with each other, says AAEI's Northcott.

Banks agrees. "If you're not capitalizing on the savings and the efficiencies that ACE will offer, you won't be able to compete in the future," he warns. "Some of the most competitive companies in the U.S. have signed up for ACE. They understand that it's in their financial and business best interests."