Nearly 13,000 electronic manifests were filed with US Customs and Border Protection in September--a dramatic increase since April when only 1,000 e-manifests were filed. CBP has received more that 40,000 e-manifests filings and this number continues to grow as the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the e-manifest feature become available at more land-border ports of entry.
The e-manifest capability is available to truck carriers at all ports of entry where the ACE has been deployed. ACE is the technology foundation that will support our national security and business management processes.
Companies have a couple of options for filing e-manifests. Truck carriers can submit an e-manifest through the web-based ACE secure data portal or via a CBP approved Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The ACE portal is essentially a customized Web site for authorized users that connects CBP, the trade community and other participating government agencies with a single, centralized on-line access point for communications and information. There is no charge to use the portal.
Truck carriers may choose to use third parties, which usually require a fee to transmit e-manifests. Carriers may also elect to purchase software from an EDI software provider. A list of EDI software providers can be found on the CBP Modernization Web site, at www.cbp.gov/modernization. Scroll down the middle and click on “Carrier Information on ACE.” Once on the carrier information page, look to the right of the page and click on “ACE Electronic Truck Manifest Software Developers.”
ACE is currently deployed to 49 ports and will ultimately be in all 99 land-border ports. It will be extended to air, rail, and sea cargo processing in coming years. For information about how to establish an ACE account, e-mail CBP at [email protected]