U.S. Customs Pledges Automation Program Will Arrive

(Journal of Commerce Online – Bill Mongelluzzo)

Agency assures forwarders CBP is committed to automated manifest system despite delays

Customs and Border Protection’s advanced computer system for processing documentation is taking longer to develop and will cost more than anticipated, but completing development of the Automated Commercial Environment remains one of the agency’s top priorities.

“I can understand your frustration with ACE,” Thomas Winkowski, assistant commissioner of CBP, told Wesccon, the annual cargo conference of West Coast freight forwarders and customs brokers. The federal government in the past saw significant problems developing computer systems for the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Defense, but ACE will not meet the same fate as those troubled efforts. “ACE won’t be scrapped. There’s strong support for it on the Hill,” Winkowski told the Wesccon gathering in Rancho Mirage, Calif., over the weekend. Read more here.