U.S. Customs and Border Protection has updated its schedule for deploying additional functionality to the Automated Commercial Environment.
ACE functionality, including data reports, can help importers and others boost compliance and duty savings efforts. For more information, please contact attorney Lenny Feldman via email or at (305) 894-1011.
Business Identifiers. CBP has pushed back from November to March functionality that (1) expands the global business identifier proof of concept enrollment process by enabling trade users to submit one, two, or all three of the global identifiers for any party type and (2) adds an additional free text field allowing filers to input additional descriptions about the party/GBI number provided. Still planned for March is an enhancement that will include a new GBI identifier qualifier “ALTA” and expand the current GBI identifier field from 20 to 35 characters.
Collections. An enhancement creating an additional, secure digital payment option for trade users to pay bills online through pay.gov has been postponed indefinitely.
De Minimis Shipments. Enhancements adding bond validations for low-value shipments and automating the removal and restoration of entry type 86 test participants remain on hold.
Detentions. CBP still anticipates deploying in February 2026 an enhancement integrating detention record data in ACE with other CBP applications for streamlined detention process management.
Exports. Functionality planned for June 2026 will provide the export community with an electronic method for submitting outbound cargo manifests. An enhancement providing a trade-facing electronic export manifest portal to enable the filing of truck EEM bills of lading prior to departing the U.S. for Mexico or Canada and to allow carriers to add account data has not yet been rescheduled. An enhancement enabling export manifest filers to utilize the standard X12 or EDIFACT message sets currently used to submit import truck manifest information remains scheduled for June 2026. Newly scheduled for October 2026 is a modernization of CBP’s ocean manifest EDI services, ocean and rail manifest UIs, and in-bond external interfaces and APIs.
Import duties. An enhancement enabling ACE to calculate estimated duties on an entry summary line when more than two HTSUS numbers are submitted has been pushed back from January to March 2026.
In-bonds. A modernization of ACE in-bond processing, including the QP and WP message transactions, has now been scheduled for April 4, 2026.
Interoperability. CBP has put on hold the deployment of functionality that, beginning as a pilot with a small set of participants, will enable the use of global interoperability standards, including decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials, to trade crude oil imports from point of origin to arrival in the U.S.
Manifests. CBP has delayed from March to May 2026 an enhancement enabling real-time visibility of U.S. Postal Service manifest data in ACE. New on the schedule for May 9, 2026, is an enhancement modernizing the ACE air manifest user interface and rail manifest electronic data interchange services.
Ocean cargo. Still on track for February 2026 is functionality that will only be applicable to ocean cargo and will enable ATS Import Cargo to send seal change update data to ACE Manifest.
Portal accounts. CBP has announced plans to deploy Oct. 31 an enhancement automating the ACE portal importer account application/creation process via a web-based form. New on the schedule is a June 2026 update to enhance user data security in the ACE portal and restrict certain data access to authorized CBP personnel.
Refunds. CBP has advanced from Dec. 31 to Dec. 16 plans to add a new trade user permission for managing refund-related ACH bank information in an importer account in the ACE portal.
Sanctions. Functionality that will implement the collection of new data elements to enable targeting of merchandise subject to sanctions on Russian diamonds and seafood is still on hold.
Temporary imports. CBP still plans to deploy in April 2026 an enhancement that will enable trade users to manifest a carnet as a new cargo type in the truck manifest application and give CBP users greater visibility into carnet shipments.
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