6 March 2009

ACE to Provide New Broker Download Capabilities to Sea Carriers

The following was reported on in today's Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg's "WorldTrade Interacitve".

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that when it introduces enhanced Automated Commercial Environment electronic cargo processing capabilities later this spring, sea carriers will be able to use the broker download capability to facilitate communication and data sharing among carriers, brokers and self-filing importers. The broker download capability, which has long been a staple of rail manifest and has been incorporated into the ACE electronic truck manifest program as well, will allow shipments to be reconciled and released as many as five days before the arrival of the conveyance. CBP anticipates that this will not only promote the pre-filing of cargo release (entry) data but also offer time and cost savings by reducing the number of mismatches between entry and manifest records.

To use the broker download capability sea carriers will be required to include broker identification information on the electronic bill of lading sent to CBP via the Electronic Data Interchange. Carriers will also be able to include an Automated Broker Interface office routing number on the BOL if the broker has more than one office. Once ACE receives the BOL it will convert the information into the Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirement format and electronically send it to the broker’s ABI address. The broker or entry filer will then be able to extract BOL information to confirm that the BOL number and quantity are listed correctly and determine whether an entry has been filed or needs to be filed.