[Nhcoll-l] ACE Customs declaration situation

[Ellen Paul]

1. We are still awaiting a proposal from SEKO, the customs brokerage. 
Meanwhile, try using FedEx Trade Network or any other customs broker of 
your choice. I am not seeing a viable alternative for hand-carry other 
than to have a customs broker do the entry for you. There are paper 
forms you can use, but as we learned last week, you can't file those 
forms at the airport. You need to leave your samples there, go to CBP 
offices in that city, and then return to the airport...just not remotely 
practical. I suppose if it is your home city, you could have someone 
from the museum file them for you before you return.

2. It turns out that it is not feasible for individuals to register to 
use the "Automated Broker Interface" on their own. It requires 
specialized software. The Ornithological Council and SPNHC are jointly 
looking into the cost of such software, systems requirements, and how 
many individual users can use it. If feasible, we may obtain the 
software and make this service available to our members.

Some of the software vendors actually host the software on their own 
servers and charge for access on a per-transaction basis or a 
subscription basis. I'm looking into that, too, and will share the info 
once I have it.

3. No promises, but it sounds like CBP is going to be a bit flexible for 
the next few months as they realize that there is an entire community 
out here that has had virtually no communication about this system for 
the two or more years that it has been in development.

4. CBP is willing to host a webinar (think October) to try to help 
everyone understand the system and get up-to-speed. Details will be 
shared here once I have them.

Ellen
-- 
Ellen Paul

Ellen Paul

Executive Director

Ornithological Council <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=CwICaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=FfrK8gI_9YMn-CO5LYRyr_SrxUgqUoA7YTUvARr0GkQ&s=_mEq0HbIkDqDgrIWhbnhArkx114VITjTLDG91cfzILM&e= >

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