U.S. Customs and Border Protection on July 18 announced in the Federal Register that trucks entering the United States through the land border ports of entry in the states of Maine and Minnesota will be required to transmit electronic manifests through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) effective October 16.
ACE is the next generation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection technology designed to protect the United States from terrorism while expediting lawful trade.
CBP has now either required the use of ACE for the transmission of advance electronic truck cargo information, or provided 90 days notice that it intends to do so, at every land border port in which CBP originally planned to require the use of ACE, with the exception of the land border ports in the state of Alaska.
Currently, filing of ACE e-manifests is required at land border ports on the southern border, in the state of Washington, North Dakota, Michigan, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. Eventually, the transmission of e-manifest through ACE will be required at all land border ports of entry.
Before e-manifest, truck drivers have arrived at the border and presented CBP officers with a paper manifest that details information on the cargo being transported, the truck and trailer carrying the cargo and the driver. The manifest must then be processed by CBP while the driver waits. With e-manifest, CBP officers are able to pre-screen trucks and shipments, and dedicate more time to inspecting suspicious cargo without delaying the border crossings of legitimate carriers.
For more information on this announcement, visit the CBP legal Web site. ( Federal Register Notices 2007 - GPO Access ) For information on ACE, please e-mail CBP.CSPO@dhs.gov or visit the CBP modernization Web. ( ACE: Modernization Information Systems )
