U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week completed installations of the Automated Commercial Environment in California and Arizona, including the ports at Otay Mesa, Calexico, Andrade and Tecate in California, and San Luis, Ariz. With the completion of California, ACE now has been rolled out in every state on the southern border of the United States.
ACE is the commercial trade processing system being developed by CBP to enhance border security and expedite legitimate trade. Eventually ACE will be the lead system at all ports when, in the coming years, capabilities are rolled out for air, rail and sea cargo processing.
“From Brownsville, Texas, to Otay Mesa, California, ACE now stretches more than 1,900 miles along the U.S.-Mexican border,” says Louis Samenfink, Cargo Systems Program Office executive director. “With the completion of installations on the southern border, ACE is in place to significantly enhance border security and expedite trade, especially as we transition to electronic manifests, a powerful, time-saving tool for CBP and the trade community.”
The electronic manifest capability is currently available at all ACE ports. CBP has encourages truck carriers to establish ACE truck carrier accounts now to ensure efficient border operations when e-manifests eventually are mandated at all land ports. More than 3,000 e-manifests have been filed to date, according to CBP. For information about how to establish an ACE account, go to www.cbp.gov/modernization.
Soon, installations will begin in the Northeast. There are currently 43 ACE ports in the states of Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Washington.
