Working in close coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the Border Interagency Executive Council, and the White House, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been actively tracking and assessing stakeholder readiness for the mandatory filing of all electronic entry and entry summaries in ACE. While significant capabilities have been deployed to date, concerns about stakeholder readiness have necessitated a reassessment of our current timelines. We appreciate the input from the trade community and have adjusted the mandatory transition to ACE for electronic entry and entry summary filing as follows:

Nov 1, 2015: Beginning of a transition period for electronic entry and entry summary filings in ACE to allow industry and participating government agencies more time to test and provide feedback as they fully transition into the new system. Use of ACE is allowed and encouraged for electronic entry and corresponding entry summary filings for entry types 01, 03, 11, 51, and 52 with or without PGA data.

Feb 28, 2016: At this time, filers will only be permitted to file in ACE, and no longer permitted to file in ACS, all electronic entries and entry summaries. In addition, electronic FDA, NHTSA, and APHIS (Lacey) data must be filed in ACE and ACS will no longer be available.

July 2016: Upon publication of the Final Rule, ACE must be used for filing AMS, APHIS Core, ATF, CDC, DCMA, DDTC, DEA E&C, EPA, FSIS, FWS*, NMFS and TTB data. Hybrid submissions will no longer be allowed.* This requirement for FWS is contingent on FWS having its regulatory revisions in place by the July 2016 publication of the CBP Final Rule eliminating hybrid filings.

We would like to reiterate that the transition period initiated on November 1, 2015 does not impact our December 2016 deadline for full implementation of the Single Window via ACE. We appreciate all efforts from the trade community, Partner Government Agencies and CBP to prepare for this transition and encourage all to continue working toward the full transition to ACE.