E7-18527. Automated Commercial Environment (ACE): National Customs Automation Program Test of Automated Truck Manifest for Truck Carrier Accounts; Deployment Schedule

AGENCY:

Customs and Border Protection; Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION:

General notice.

SUMMARY:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in conjunction with the Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is currently conducting a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning the transmission of automated truck manifest data. This document announces the final group, or cluster, of ports to be deployed for this test.

DATES:

The ports identified in this notice, in the state of Alaska, are expected to be fully deployed for testing no earlier than August 30, 2007. Comments concerning this notice and all aspects of the announced test may be submitted at any time during the test period to the contact listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. James Swanson via e-mail at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning the transmission of automated truck manifest data for truck carrier accounts was announced in a notice published in the Federal Register (69 FR 55167) on September 13, 2004. That notice stated that the test of the Automated Truck Manifest would be conducted in a phased approach, with primary deployment scheduled for no earlier than November 29, 2004.

A series of Federal Register notices have announced the implementation of the test, beginning with a notice published on May 31, 2005 (70 FR 30964). As described in that document, the deployment sites for the test have been phased in as clusters. The ports identified belonging to the first cluster were announced in the May 31, 2005 notice. Additional clusters were announced in subsequent notices published in the Federal Register including: 70 FR 43892, published on July 29, 2005; 70 FR 60096, published on October 14, 2005; 71 FR 3875, published on January 24, 2006; 71 FR 23941, published on April 25, 2006; 71 FR 42103, published on July 25, 2006; 71 FR 77404, published on December 26, 2006; 72 FR 5070, published on February 2, 2007; 72 FR 7058, published on February 14, 2007; 72 FR 14127, published on March 26, 2007; and 72 FR 32135, published on June 11, 2007.

New Cluster

Through this notice, CBP announces that the final cluster of ports to be brought up for purposes of deployment of the test, to be fully deployed no earlier than August 30, 2007, will be the following land border ports in the state of Alaska: Alcan, Dalton Cache, and Skagway. This group of ports is the last remaining group, nationwide, to be tested; the ACE truck manifest test will be complete once it is effectuated in Alaska.

This deployment is for purposes of the test of the transmission of automated truck manifest data only; the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Truck Manifest System is not yet the mandated transmission system for these ports. The ACE Truck Manifest System will become the mandatory transmission system in these ports only after publication in the Federal Register of 90 days notice, as explained by CBP in the Federal Register notice published on October 27, 2006 (71 FR 62922).

Previous NCAP Notices Not Concerning Deployment Schedules

On Monday, March 21, 2005, a notice was published in the Federal Register (70 FR 13514) announcing a modification to the NCAP test to clarify that all relevant data elements are required to be submitted in the automated truck manifest submission. That notice did not announce any change to the deployment schedule and is not affected by publication of this notice. All requirements and aspects of the test, as set forth in the September 13, 2004 notice, as modified by the March 21, 2005 notice, continue to be applicable.

Dated: September 13, 2007.

Thomas S. Winkowski,

Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations.