The U.S. Customs Service is embarking on a modernization effort — the Customs Modernization Program —to improve Customs trade, enforcement, and administrative operations. The following information about the project is provided by the U.S. Customs Service.

            The scope of this effort is vast; it reaches across the Customs Service and into the trade community as well as interacting with other government agencies. The Customs Modernization Program will bring an enterprise approach to the planning, definition, development, and implementation of new business processes and the infrastructure that supports these processes.

            In recent years, trade growth and expanding law enforcement efforts have nearly overwhelmed Customs staff and resources. These demands on Customs personnel and computer resources require changes in the way Customs operates and responds to stakeholder needs. In response, the commissioner and the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) have been planning to modernize Customs technological and operational systems to help Customs staff meet mission needs.                         The first modernization project, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), will focus on trade initially, and will provide as the foundation for future automated systems. In response to the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001 , Commissioner Bonner testified before Congress that Customs would like to accelerate ACE development from five years to four years, enabling Customs to more quickly deliver ACE, and its analytical capabilities to Customs field offices.

            The Modernization Program will have a positive impact on almost every aspect of U.S. and international trade and travel, Customs operations, and related federal and international government agency missions and programs. In addition, the modernization effort will impact its many stakeholders on a day-to-day basis.

            Although ACE will be the first significant accomplishment, the modernization process is much more than ACE. The entire modernization program will span 15 years and will cover each of Customs mission areas: Trade, Enforcement, and Administration. The modernization program will introduce systems that will enable Customs and more than 100 participating government agencies to work cooperatively and form alliances with the industry based on shared goals and integrated systems that protect and strengthen America ’s borders.

            Overall, the Customs modernization initiative will update the systems that Customs uses to do business by:

            •Reducing maintenance costs.

            •Maximizing service to other government agencies and to the trade.

            •Allowing greater access by the public.

            •Using technologies that are interoperable and easy to upgrade.

            Customs has gained a renewed sense of mission in response to the terrorist attack on Sept. 11. Customs recognizes the need to accelerate the development and implementation of its modernization effort. The service’s current import system, the Automated Commercial System (ACS), was designed in 1984 and will not be able to meet the increasingly complex, long-term requirements impacted by the growth in trade, enforcement responsibilities, and legislation.

            ACS can not handle the increased computing requirements brought on by trade growth. Therefore the modernization of Customs import processing system is essential. For example:

            •In the last decade, trade has grown 132 percent.

            •By 2004, Customs will be processing more than 30 million commercial entries a year up from 12.3 million in 1994.

            •New laws and regulations require enhanced functionality

            To prepare for continued trade growth and address its long-term import processing needs, Customs has designated the ACS replacement, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), as the first modernization project.

            With its unique position at America ’s borders, Customs plays a critical role in the facilitation of trade and border security. ACE will not only replace the aging ACS, but it is being developed as the foundation of the modernization initiative, transforming the way Customs processes goods at the border, moving merchandise to markets faster and at lower costs, while targeting high-risk cargo for examination. The Customs modernization initiative will allow the service to leverage emerging technology and improved business processes to get the right information, to the right people, at the right time and place.

            When the Automated Commercial System (ACS) was designed in 1984, a static approach was used because large systems were expected to last 10 to 15 years. A technology insertion process was not available; however, today Customs needs a new system that can grow with its business needs and allow new advances. Therefore a dynamic approach will be used to design the new system, Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). ACE is designed to be flexible. It will support an ongoing process review of business needs and allow ACE to insert new technology as business requirements change. The Enterprise Application Layer is what permits the ACE system to be flexible.

            The Enterprise Application Layer is a mechanism that allows information to be shared efficiently from a wide array of components. This type of architecture is component driven, and is built with integration tools that allow for interface of multiple elements in a single system. The result is a plug-and-play architecture that enables Customs to add new functionality as it becomes available, update its system as new iterations with increased functionality become available, and adopts the technology to changing needs in the market place.

            It may be easiest to think of Enterprise Architecture in terms of a strip surge protector, where the surge protector is the bus, or architecture, and the different components then plug into the different plugs along the strip. Another way to think about it is a hub and spoke model

            The e-Customs Partnership is building an enterprise architecture in alignment with Customs that will allow for improved flexibility among Customs and its constituents. Other noted benefits include:

            •Adaptable to new technologies as they evolve.

            •Scalable to changing business volumes.

            •Interoperable with existing systems, new systems, and package systems.

            •Manageable for the operations staff who administer the environment.

            •Maintainable for the development staff who administers the enterprise.

            •Reliable according to the requirements of the client’s customers.

            •Accessible to end users who need services and data transparently.

            •Reusable to other applications for shorter time to production and higher quality.

            Since 1984, the pace of technological change has increased dramatically, and continues to intensify. Customs Modernization is ongoing; it’s a process that allows insertion of new technology as advances become available and business needs change. By creating a user friendly system, the insertion of new technology will be a reality in the future Customs environment.

ACE update

            The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection Modernization Office (CBPMO) is working with CBP division directors to ensure a smooth transition to the next two phases of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).

            Recently, the CBPMO and the e-Customs Partnership met with CBP division directors in charge of nine business processes regarding designs for the third and fourth releases of ACE. 

            “Business process owners are important to the CBPMO because they deal with day to day operations that support the CBP mission,” said CBPMO business executive Lawrence J. Rosenzweig. “Their field experience will help validate planned capabilities for ACE that deal with their process area, or work transactions.”

            Business processes covered include: security and account management; account revenue processing; manifest and cargo processing; border release and export processing; targeting and risk analysis; cargo and conveyance tracking; entry summary and post summary processing; and drawback procedures for fee refunds.

            Directors serving as business process owners work with field operations to identify and examine potential ACE impacts, develop and execute transition plans, and contribute to transition policy.

            Rosenzweig said ACE Releases 3 and 4 will have a dramatic impact on CBP field operations, significantly increasing access to ACE and adding account periodic payment and cargo processing features.

            He said it will be crucial to maintain open lines of communication and an active partnership with operational managers as Releases 3 and 4 are implemented.

            Release 3, scheduled for winter 2004, will expand ACE access to CBP entry and import specialists. It will also extend ACE to more types of accounts, from the initial 41 importers to include brokers and carriers. Monthly activity statements and electronic payment features will also be added.

            Release 4, scheduled to begin next spring, continues the steady growth of users and expands ACE access to CBP inspectors at seven CBP land border ports, including: Blaine, Wash.; Buffalo and Champlain, N.Y.; Detroit and Port Huron, Mich.; Laredo, Texas; and Otay Mesa, Calif. Access will be extended to the first non-CBP participating government agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

            Release 4 also adds new cargo and enforcement processing features, including an automated truck manifest with preferred and standard electronic release (eRelease) for trucks. It automates in-bond processing from warehouses and trade zones for cargo from foreign sources traveling through the United States to foreign destinations.  

            The eRelease feature will smooth the transition to ACE from the current Automated Commercial System (ACS) and integrate the Customs Automated Forms Entry System (CAFES) and paper documents. Preferred eRelease will require participation in the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) initiative with Canada and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).