[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 62 (Thursday, March 31, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18634-18635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07255]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection


Cessation of National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) Test 
Concerning the Submission of Certain Data Required by the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) Using the Partner Government Agency (PGA) Message 
Set Through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: General notice.

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SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) have determined that the National Customs 
Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning the electronic transmission 
of certain import data for all FDA-regulated commodities through the 
Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) has been a success as ACE is 
capable of accepting FDA-regulated electronic entries. Accordingly, 
this document announces that the pilot is ending and CBP encourages all 
importers of merchandise regulated by the FDA to now use ACE for their 
electronic filings. In the near future ACE will be the sole CBP-
authorized Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system for these filings.

DATES: The FDA test will end on May 2, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice and any aspect of this test 
may be submitted via email to Josephine Baiamonte, ACE Business Office 
(ABO), Office of International Trade, at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For CBP-related questions, contact 
Jeffrey Nii, Director, Inter-Agency Collaboration Division, Office of 
International Trade, at [email protected]. For FDA-related 
questions, contact Sandra Abbott at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) was established by 
Subtitle B of Title VI--Customs Modernization, in the North American 
Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 
2057, December 8, 1993) (Customs Modernization Act). See 19 U.S.C. 
1411. Through NCAP, the thrust of customs modernization was on trade 
compliance and the development of the Automated Commercial Environment 
(ACE), the planned successor to the legacy Customs Automated Commercial 
System (ACS). ACE is an automated and electronic system for commercial 
trade processing. ACE will streamline business processes, facilitate 
growth in trade, ensure cargo security, and foster participation in 
global commerce, while ensuring compliance with U.S. laws and 
regulations and reducing costs for CBP and all its communities of 
interest. The ability to meet these objectives depends upon 
successfully modernizing CBP's business functions and the information 
technology that supports those functions. CBP's modernization efforts 
are accomplished through phased releases of ACE component 
functionality, designed to introduce a

[[Page 18635]]

new capability or to replace a specific legacy ACS function.
    Through the Customs Modernization Act and section 101.9 of title 19 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR 101.9), the Commissioner of 
CBP has authority to conduct limited test programs or procedures 
designed to evaluate planned components of the NCAP. See Treasury 
Decision (T.D.) 95-21.

I. The FDA Partner Government Agency Message Set Test

    On December 13, 2013, CBP published in the Federal Register a 
notice announcing a NCAP test called the Partner Government Agency 
(PGA) Message Set test. See 78 FR 75931 (December 13, 2013). The PGA 
Message Set is the data required to satisfy a PGA's reporting 
requirements through ACE, enabling the trade community to submit trade-
related data required by the PGA only once to CBP, thus improving 
communications between the agency and filers, and shortening entry 
processing time. Also, by virtue of being electronic, the PGA Message 
Set eliminates the necessity for the submission and subsequent manual 
processing of paper documents.
    On August 27, 2015, CBP published in the Federal Register a notice 
announcing CBP's plan to conduct a test concerning the submission of 
electronic Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data elements required by 
the FDA's cargo admissibility process under the auspices of ACE for 
those commodities regulated by the FDA that are being imported or 
offered for import into the United States. See 80 FR 52051 (August 27, 
2015). Under the test, the new FDA PGA Message Set satisfied the FDA 
data requirements for formal and informal consumption entries through 
electronic filing in ACE and via the FDA PGA Message Set, enabling the 
trade community to have a CBP-managed ``single window'' for the 
submission of data required by the FDA during the cargo importation and 
review process.
    In the notice, CBP stated that the FDA PGA Message Set test would 
continue until concluded by way of announcement in the Federal Register 
and that an evaluation would be conducted to assess the effect that the 
test had on expediting the submission of FDA importation-related data 
elements and the processing of FDA entries.

II. Conclusion of the Successful FDA PGA Message Set Test

    This notice announces that CBP and FDA have determined that ACE is 
capable of accepting FDA regulated electronic entries in ACE via the 
FDA PGA Message Set and, having found the test to be successful, are 
concluding the test, effective May 2, 2016.

III. Use of ACE

    On February 29, 2016, CBP published a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing that, starting on March 31, 2016, CBP will begin 
decommissioning the Automated Commercial System (ACS) for certain entry 
and entry summary filings, making ACE the sole CBP-authorized EDI 
system for processing those electronic filings. See 81 FR 10264 
(February 29, 2016). CBP explained that it would announce the 
conclusion of PGA Message Set and Document Image System (DIS) pilots on 
a rolling basis and that, as each pilot was concluded, ACE would become 
the sole CBP-authorized EDI system for electronic entry and entry 
summary filings for merchandise subject to the specified PGA import 
requirements and that merchandise subject to the specified PGA import 
requirements would no longer be permitted in ACS.
    Despite the FDA PGA Message Set test concluding, CBP is not, at 
this time, decommissioning the Automated Commercial System (ACS) for 
transmitting FDA data. Nonetheless, ACE is capable of accepting FDA-
regulated electronic entries and CBP encourages all importers of 
merchandise regulated by the FDA to now use ACE for their electronic 
filings. Making the transition to ACE now will benefit the filing 
community when ACE will become the sole CBP-authorized EDI system for 
these filings.

    Dated: March 28, 2016.
Brenda B. Smith,
Assistant Commissioner, Office of International Trade.
[FR Doc. 2016-07255 Filed 3-30-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9111-14-P