U.S. Customs and Border Protection is planning to advance work this fall on a new system that will ultimately replace the Automated Commercial Environment.
CBP has said that ACE 2.0 will not be a refresh of ACE or a set of incremental changes but instead is intended to be a new system designed to ensure that CBP has the technology to implement the reimagined trade processes developed as part of the 21st Century Customs Framework to align with modern supply chains. CBP states that this system will allow it and its partner government agencies to receive better-quality data earlier in the supply chain from traditional as well as non-traditional actors, which will facilitate better, faster, and earlier government responses and determinations on cargo.
In a recent update to its Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, CBP said it still anticipates beginning software development work on ACE 2.0 capabilities “in the fiscal year 2026 timeframe” provided that funding is available. The agency has also “made significant progress documenting the capabilities envisioned with ACE 2.0,” though that information does not appear to have been made public yet.
In the meantime, CBP continues to work on ensuring the global interoperability of ACE 2.0, which means the system will work with a variety of technologies and thus enable the exchange of data with a wider variety of trade entities in near-real time. In the fourth quarter of FY 2023 CBP successfully tested advanced capabilities to verify credentials and transmit data to PGAs in the pipeline oil and steel sectors Development for limited production of these capabilities will begin this fall, with a potential delivery date in spring 2025.
CBP is planning a similar test this fall with respect to e-commerce (which will enhance traceability of goods bought and sold online and ensure that importers comply with CBP and PGA requirements), natural gas (which will facilitate origin determinations and prevent goods entering from prohibited countries), and food safety (which will track perishable goods from farm to import, reduce importer waste, and enable identification of packing materials used in shipping food products) and states that putting these capabilities into limited production will depend on the results of that test as well as future funding.
CBP also anticipates extending this testing to international government-to-government exchange of information in 2025.
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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