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<p>Just listened in on a conference call about ACE hosted by the
National Economic Council of the White House. Yeah.
*The*White*House.*<br>
</p>
<p>APHIS goes online with an open pilot today through August 15.
They've been doing what amounts to beta testing with a handful of
industries and cargo expediters and are handling millions of
transactions, for the express purpose of working out the bugs.</p>
<p>From the comments from the participants, it was clear that the
commercial sector has a great deal of trepidation about the
system, and particularly because it entails having a third party
(an expediter/customs broker) knowing what codes are the correct
ones to use. That expertise of course resides with industry.
That's exactly what we have seen on the rare occasions when
researchers have used customs brokers - they don't know much, if
anything, about the agencies that restrict imports and so they
don't get it right. That's the rationale, of course, behind trying
to set up a contract with SEKO - they will acquire that expertise
via OC and SPNHC. Still waiting to hear from them.</p>
<p>During the Q&A, I pointed out that in designing and
implementing this system, they seemed to be completely unaware of
the non-commercial import sector, such as the research community,
and that while their goal was (among other things) to simplify and
expedite the import process, for us, it has just the opposite
effect. A simple and easy process is being replaced by a complex,
challenging process. And that mere entry into the process via the
online entry of information for CBP, APHIS, and other agencies is
itself a huge barrier due to the need for specialized software
(that I am now exploring - there are 28 vendors for APHIS alone!
and who knows how many, if any, will also handle USFWS). <br>
</p>
<p>No word yet on USFWS. They told me last month that their goal was
late July. They didn't specify a year. The White House deadline is
the end of 2016.</p>
<p>That's all I've got for now. Again - until we get this sorted
out, your best bet is to identify a customs broker - NOT to handle
the actual shipment, but to do the ACE and APHIS entry for you.
Ornithologists may feel free to have the customs broker contact me
and I can explain the terminology and how that translates into the
data codes for them. Sorry but I simply can't handle this for the
entire research community without giving those who support the OC
short shrift.</p>
<p>Ellen<br>
</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Ellen Paul</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Executive Director</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=CwMDaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=kqevf85QAzOISkuFIkLTb86O9V3stCeofUpXJlU3qSw&s=howHDgFkB_Aq-AHWQhxolBDzrLVranx87aUKLYrVbIM&e=">Ornithological
Council</a> <br>
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Providing Scientific Information about Birds</p>
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