 Ask
Executive Director of Express Association of America
Michael Mullen what stands out in his mind as August
rushes toward September and he prepares to attend the
first U.S. Air Cargo Industry Affairs Summit (ACIA),
and his answer is, in a word, “automated.”
“A key session at
the ACIA Summit for our members will be the discussion
of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and how
this new system will impact the air cargo global supply
chain.
“With virtually
all shipments being processed through ACE as of the
end of July, the system can be said to have reached
its initial operating capability.
“Achieving this
goal required an enormous amount of work by the government
and industry, and this effort should be acknowledged
as a great example of a very effective public-private
partnership.
“But, of course,
just getting the system up and running was never the
overall goal.”
Beyond
Expectations
“What we all expect,”
Michael adds, “and what was advertised, is that
ACE will result in efficiency enhancements, such as
better information management, faster processing, improved
risk management, and a more precise reports capability.
“To see if we are
actually experiencing better efficiency, we obviously
need some benchmarks against which to measure ACE compared
to what came before,” he declares.
“ACE will provide
the technical backbone for the ‘single window’
envisioned since the 1990s as the goal of the International
Trade Data System (ITDS).
“A single window
cannot just mean that ACE is a portal feeding data into
stovepiped government agency systems that continue to
run their own, unique border clearance processes, in
parallel with or in series with CBP’s.
“A real single window
should appear to be a seamless process to the trade
community user, where we submit the data once and get
a single government clearance back almost immediately
for the majority of products, which are known to be
highly compliant.
“Achieving this
kind of really deep integration is going to require
some government agencies to affect true change, reprioritizing
people and other resources, and that is usually a painful
process.”
Will
ACIA Talk To Regulators?
“Yes!” Michael
says emphatically.
“The kind of issues
that need to be addressed, and that will be discussed
at the ACIA Summit, include: adoption of a government-wide
common approach to risk management, ensuring government
agencies are processing shipments at the same time as
CBP, reevaluating which agencies need their own personnel
on the border as opposed to having CBP discharge their
clearance authorities for them, and the creation of
a single government trusted trader program.
“With ACE having
reached its initial operating capability, government
and industry need to have a focused discussion of the
goals that can be achieved with this new system.”
Panel
Offers Windows
“Establishing the
‘single window, as mandated by the President’s
Executive Order, will require several government agencies
to reevaluate their risk management procedures in order
to create a holistic border clearance process that meets
the needs of the high speed air cargo environment.
“This panel will
bring together public and private sector leaders to
discuss how to fully realize a vision of ACE that will
deliver ambitious levels of performance and significantly
improved efficiency,” Michael Mullin concludes.
High
Hopes
“Without a doubt,
air cargo will be more effective if the industry addresses
the government with a unified voice,” declares
Cargo Network Services (CNS) President Lionel Van der
Walt.
Lionel masterminded and
is spearheading this first ACIA Summit, and takes a
practical view of things ahead:
“We will probably
not agree on everything.
“Let’s face
it squarely; there are definitely many areas where cooperation
and alignment is possible and very beneficial. And even
for those areas where we do not necessarily agree on
the approach or potential outcome, bringing industry
leaders together to debate and discuss industry concerns
is a good thing.
“My view is that
we do not do this often enough and my expectation is
that the USACIA Summit will be successful and help to
facilitate such discussions going forward on an annual
basis.”
More Information: http://www.cnsc.net/events/Pages/usacia-2016.aspx
Geoffrey
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