U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced the results of recent global interoperability standards technology demonstrations, which it will use to help inform development of ACE 2.0.
ACE 2.0 is CBP’s plan to modernize ACE by adding new functionality and capabilities to implement the next generation of business processes envisioned by the 21st Century Customs Framework. To lay the groundwork for this effort, CBP is continuing to work on ensuring the global interoperability of ACE 2.0, which means the system will work with a variety of technologies (both current and future) and thus enable the exchange of data with a wider variety of trade entities in near-real time.
CBP states that during the most recent series of demonstrations it focused on the automated verification of digital credentials to securely transmit information between businesses and CBP systems. In partnership with the Food and Drug Administration and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, CBP tested the system’s capability to exchange pre-arrival information for perishable goods earlier in the process than can be done currently.
CBP also conducted two technology demonstrations for the e-commerce sector. First, CBP used unique identifiers to demonstrate how regulatory agencies could validate registered chemicals before they reach the U.S. A second demonstration showed how CBP could enhance its ability to keep consumers safe and protect intellectual property by validating brand-specific encrypted credentials.
In the natural gas sector, CBP worked with three companies to demonstrate the system’s ability to successfully track natural gas from origin to importation at the molecular level by weight.
CBP has previously said that it anticipates international testing in 2025 that will include three technical demonstrations of data exchange between CBP and select foreign customs authorities to confirm that CBP can issue and exchange information globally: (1) an automated framework based on traceable presentations, global interoperability standards, and immutable ledger technology that allows trade data exchange among authorized economic operator partners, (2) the exchange of Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism/AEO credentials between countries to prove CBP can issue and exchange credentials in a globally interoperable manner, and (3) countries’ exchange of bill data to verify exported goods.
CBP has also said that, provided sufficient funding is identified and secured, it anticipates conducting in 2025 and 2026 limited production pilots that will serve as the bridge between the technology demonstrations and broad ACE 2.0 implementation, which is expected to begin no sooner than 2026.
For more information on these developments or ACE 2.0, please contact attorney Lenny Feldman at (305) 894-1011 or via email.
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