Filers in ACE Pesticides Pilot Seeing Drastic Reductions in Clearance Time, Says EPA Official
Participants in the Environmental Protection Agency’s pilot on filing of pesticide shipment data in the Automated Commercial Environment are seeing a drastic reduction in processing times, according to Roy Chaudet of EPA’s Office of Environmental Information during a March 8 webinar. Only three slots are filled in the pilot, which is limited to nine participants, though several other filers are interested and getting ready to file their notices of arrival in ACE, he said.
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Current paper-based notice of arrival processes can take from one to two weeks, said Chaudet. The “two-step” process requires that the filer send the paper notice of arrival to the relevant EPA regional office via express mail, where the notice is reviewed and signed before being sent back to the filer. The notice must then accompany the shipment when it arrives at the port. Following several incidents of fraud, some regions are limiting how long filers may submit the notices before arrival at the port, causing some filers to bump up against the pesticide shipment’s arrival, said Chaudet.
The new electronic process eliminates that two-step process by running it all through the CBP entry process, Chaudet said. In ACE, the notice of arrival data elements are first validated to make sure the necessary information is present, generating an “accept” message if satisfactory. A second validation step is then performed, including the matching of the pesticide registration number against a list of registration numbers uploaded to ACE every night, and if all checks out a “may proceed” message is generated “within a minute of your filing,” he said. On the other hand, if any issues arise during the validation, the EPA regional office is notified so it can work with the filer to correct any discrepancies. “So far, we’ve been able to correct all PGA under review messages that have gone out,” said Chaudet.
Filing is available in all ports and all modes in the certification environment, but filers can hit timing issues in production for air and truck shipments, said Chaudet. EPA is working with CBP and several carriers to try to get a “some sort of temporary bill number” to get a bill match “way in advance,” with the broker/filer subsequently updating the information when the manifest is ready to file
Another ongoing issue is weekly type 06 foreign-trade zone entries, said Chaudet. “EPA is all about the weekly estimates” and “early filing,” but is still discussing where it would like the data to be filed – on cargo release or entry summary. The agency has told its regional offices to allow estimates of entered quantity, as long as the amount entered does not exceed the estimate, he said. “We did this specifically so that we could accommodate weekly estimates so you guys can file at the beginning of the week versus when you’re exiting the zone.” CBP is in active discussions with partner government agencies (PGAs) and trade associations on FTZ processes, including weekly entries, and will provide further information as it continues to work through the process, added a CBP official on the webinar.
Switching gears to answer a question on filing of Toxic Substances Control Act certifications in ACE, Chaudet said EPA plans on creating a list of flagged HTS codes, but does not yet have a firm timetable. Though the agency has already undertaken a months-long endeavor to define where certain chemicals are described in the tariff schedule, the results were deemed unclear. EPA needs about two dozen customs brokers and importers to come forward to inform the agency’s effort. If enough do, Chaudet expects to be able to flag HTS numbers in one or two years, though the flagging exercise “will be a living process that will go on and on.”