NCBFAA Stays Involved in ACE Development

In an effort to aid NCBFAA membership in better understanding CBP's ACE program, the NCBFAA Customs Committee has developed and published a new ACE Toolkit, available exclusively to our membership. The interests of the NCBFAA membership are the focus of several resources. Amy Magnus continues to serve as the "Face of ACE." In this capacity, Amy is an operational user who can answer member questions and guide them on the path towards successful use of ACE features. In her words, "I try to be a point of contact with our members who may have concerns or need answers. I keep a close relationship with the parties at CBP who can answer most of our questions." 

As more and more agencies moved to ITDS, we recognized that we could benefit from closer communication with CBP regarding ITDS plans. Amy Magnus volunteered and this was very well received by CBP.

The NCBFAA Automation Subcommittee chaired by Fred Klemashevich holds monthly conference call meetings with CBP. The calls focus mainly on ACE features, functionality and fixes. The subcommittee authored an ACE tool kit that is available to all Regular Members for free and can be found on the first page of the NCBFAA Website, members.ncbfaa.org. It is a tool that can help new users get started using ACE. Reviews were positive and in the words of one member, "Thanks to the ACE tool kit that was put out and the information that CBP put out, my comfort level has risen and will transmit my first ACE entry tomorrow"

NCBFAA also has an ACE Taskforce chaired by Ken Bargteil, which met in late 2012. As CBP leadership and methodologies for ACE development changed, the taskforce met to evaluate the NCBFAA white paper and determined that the priorities established by the NCBFAA were still valid. In recognition of the importance of software vendors developing ACE solutions, the NCBFAA took the initiative to offer to host a second ACE Vendor Conference. NCBFAA staff will provide critical support to organize and host this event; CBP will provide presenters and our members will benefit from engaged vendors.