Customs organizations around the world are modernizing systems to eliminate manual processes, improving visibility to trade flows, and helping companies comply with applicable laws and regulations. The WCO (World Customs Organization) labels this type of system as a “Single Window” where Customs effectively centralizes the collection of data and distributes it to all required agencies to realize a coordinated and more efficient border control.
Pieri Says... |
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| To keep up with the Single Window, companies should also consider modernizing systems to efficiently capture and manage the ranges of new PGA data requirements. |
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Get ready for some more three letter acronyms (TLAs): the US CBP (Customs and Border Protection) is building the ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) system to implement the concept of Single Window with its PGA (Partner Government Agencies). While the Single Window offers the benefit of interacting with one agency for the electronic submission of all relevant admissibility requirements, it also adds the burden of advanced and complete preparation by the Importer of all required data elements PRIOR to the arrival of goods to ensure a smooth supply chain with an uninterrupted Customs admission process.
In the US, there are approximately twenty government agencies and forty different programs, in which each have 10 to over 75 additional data elements that are required to be declared at the time of admission. So depending on the PGAs that are applicable to your business, you could be required to collect and validate hundreds of additional (even totally new) data elements for a given declaration.
 As an example of advanced and complete preparation, an Importer will now be required to provide to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) with additional data that may not have been gathered previously such as FDA’s specific commodity type, commodity sub-type and the intended use code for products which fall under their scope. Securing the appropriate data to fulfill these PGA declaration requirements may entail new outreach programs internally as well as with your supply chain partners in advance of the shipment arrival.
To effectively meet the new PGA requirements and minimize supply chain disruptions you need to ACE your PGA data collection efforts. Here are eight best practices that every Importer should consider implementing:
- Develop a process to help your company determine the applicability of a given PGA requirement PRIOR to the goods arriving at the border
- For each applicable PGA, identify which set of the numerous data elements will be required to secure a Customs release and avoid any potential exams and data holds at the border
- When the set of required data elements for each PGA is identified, assess how your company could collect those data elements and from whom
- Once collected, develop a plan to create and reuse master data to support future transactions
- Establish an electronic transaction management process that utilizes the already gathered compliance data
- When the transactions arrive prior to border crossing, augment transactional data with the required PGA data elements that have been collected
- Assemble this packet of transaction details and PGA required data elements, then communicate them to your Brokers or directly with the Single Window
- Preserve the transaction for record keeping and internal reporting purposes
While ACE will help streamline and improve border control, it comes at the cost of a higher chance for supply chain disruptions when cargo is held up for missing data elements or untimely submissions. To keep up with the Single Window, companies should also consider modernizing systems to efficiently capture and manage the ranges of new PGA data requirements. ACE-ing PGA data, therefore, is an important contributor to future supply chain success.
To discover more about the benefits Amber Road can bring to your global trade program, please visit www.AmberRoad.com. Nathan Pieri can be reached at Solutions@AmberRoad.com.
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