1. ACE Presentation for Industry
Office of Enforcement and Import Operations
Food and Drug Administration
March 2016

2. “…reduce supply chain barriers to commerce while continuing to protect our national security, public health…”
“…the Federal Government must increase efforts to improve the technologies, policies, and other controls governing the movement of goods across our national borders…”
“…by December 31, 2016, participating agencies shall have capabilities, agreements, and other requirements in place to utilize the ITDS and supporting systems, such as the Automated Commercial Environment…”
Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act of 2006
First established ITDS: single portal or “single window” concept for harmonized data
… mandates that all Federal agencies, which require documentation for clearing or licensing the importation and exportation of cargo, to participate in ACE/ITDS (Automated Commercial Environment / International Trade Data System).
Requires participation by Federal Agencies- including FDA connection….

3. What is ACE/ITDS?
The Automated Commercial Environment/ International Trade Data System is a single access point in which industry can electronically submit information for all government agencies involved in international trade.
Also known as the Single Window

4. What is ACE/ITDS?
May need to submit the same information to different agencies, many times paper-based processes (on the left)
Eliminates redundant reporting via a single window into the 1USG (on the right)

5. *FDA will continue to use ITACS at this time
Core Components
Future Functionality: FDA will integrate DIS and ITACS. FDA will only use ITACS for the initial phase of ACE. No date currently set for integration.
*FDA will continue to use ITACS at this time

6. How Does ACE Change Current Business Processes?
All entry information for all partner government agencies (PGAs) is submitted in ACE; messages from each agency are sent back to the filer
FDA will require complete data sets at the time of transmission of the entry
Complete and correct information will reduce the need for document requests, and improve processing times
See the ACE Glossary of Terms for messaging definitions
With the enhanced PGA message set for FDA, we expect the # of document requests (~2 million per year) to dramatically decrease, understanding that there are other factors that contribute to document requests.

7. FDA ACE Process Filer accesses ACE through
Industry
CBP
FDA 1
Filer accesses
ACE through
the Automated Broker Interface, submits PGA Message Set to CBP 2
CBP conducts a syntax validation to ensure all mandatory data is populated; if PGA Message Set is complete, CBP will send to FDA for further processing. Entries with missing data will prompt an error message back to the filer. 3
Data is stored in & processed by OASIS, screened by PREDICT
Slides describes the ACE process for FDA. Filer sends data to CBP. CBP checks to see if all data that is mandatory is present and in the correct syntax. If data is missing, or in the incorrect format, CBP will REJECT the entry and send the error message back to the filer. If all data is present and properly populated, CBP will “accept” the entry and send to FDA for processing. Once it gets to FDA, we process with OASIS/PREDICT as we do today and send the messages back to CBP, and CBP sends it back to the filer. 4
FDA generates a cargo
disposition message
and sends to CBP* 5
CBP sends the message back to the filer
*Data that is electronically validated may be
automatically "May Proceeded" dependent on risk ranking

8. Tip sheet of all MANDATORY data elements per commodity

9. ACE/ITDS The new interface will:
improve communication, allow FDA and other agencies to obtain data (and respond) quickly,
process cargo more expeditiously
enhance risk management and targeting procedures.
ACE/ITDS will mutually benefit FDA and the trade community through improved processes for submitting import data that reduce:
costs
the need for paper forms,
and turnaround times.

10. What does ACE/ITDS mean to me?
Before cargo arrives at the border:
A single, harmonized data set is collected electronically by CBP, on behalf of all PGAs utilizing the single window reduces duplication of efforts for the filer.
Early validation and rejection of entry filings that do not meet the PGA business rules:
Allow more time for trade to correct any issues.
Result in better data quality and shorter overall initial admissibility decision times for the FDA.
(Future FDA Integration)
FDA will incorporate the Document Imaging System (DIS).
Trade will have a secure data portal to electronically upload documentation for all PGAs as part of the cargo release process.

11. How to Start Filing in ACE
Get to know FDA’s Requirements for importing in ACE (FDA Supplemental Guide)
Contact your software developer & work with him/her to understand changes to your software
Keep your ABI Client Representative informed
To start filing in ACE for FDA, contact:
PG Message Set (data elements, Supplemental Guide, Business Rules)
General FDA on-boarding process (in the current environment):
FDA – DCS works with pilot volunteers, ensuring data and software readiness to participate in the pilot.
Volunteers are instructed to reach out to their ABI client representatives.
FDA collects filer codes and ports of entry information; and,
may validate entry data for candidate products via a data element template specific to the various commodity/ies (only as indicated by the volunteer.)
Software developers must test in the CBP ACE certification environment.
When deemed ready, a pilot product is filed in live production ACE for a specified filer code and port of entry.

12. References
FDA Supplemental Guide: document/guidance/fda-supplemental-guide- release-16 (Full list of data elements required for admissibility)
FDA DUNS Portal: (Query or request DUNS numbers for free)