In preparation for the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), Joseph Blaskiewicz is advising AIAG members to seek out their data now. “There’s lots of moving pieces with ACE and ACE readiness,” he said in a video interview. “Suppliers need to identify what data sources they have and where they need to go for information so that they aren’t scrambling for the new items the CBP is presenting to us. For example, your company may have a different enterprise system that you have to know how to access.”

Mandatory use of ACE for all electronic entry and entry summary filling begins February 28, 2016. Mandatory use of ACE for all remaining electronic portions of the CBP cargo process begins October 1, 2016.

Blaskiewicz, who gave a presentation titled “Preparation for ACE from the Trade Perspective” at AIAG’s Customs Town Hall event in Livonia, Michigan, on November 17, 2015, told attendees that it’s time to “go back to your supply chain and figure out where the data lives.” Blaskiewicz is U.S. ACE support manager for MIC Customs Solutions and has over 15 years experience in the trade compliance field.

Blaskiewicz said there are many new things to file with CBP, and suppliers should not just assume that their brokers will file these things for them, even if they’ve done it in the past. “Now CBP needs new information that your broker may not have,” he said. “That’s why you need to identify that data and find it now so the broker can file your entries for you.”

He also encouraged AIAG members to “pay attention to the automation piece.”

“With new ACE systems, there’s a lot of electronic data moving around, and a lot more automation that can be driven into processes,” he said. “CBP is getting much more automated.”

Watch video below. 

Carla Kalogeridis is AIAG’s e-news editor. Save the date now for this year’s Customs Town Hall on November 15, 2016, scheduled at Laurel Manor in Livonia, Michigan.