As was announced last week at the US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Trade Support Network (TSN) conference (held June 28-July 1 in Reston, VA), TradePoint Systems and Menlo Worldwide Trade Services combined for the first successful transmission of an Entry Summary for Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS).

PMS is part of the pilot test program of the new Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) technology features designed to speed trade and combat terrorism. The PMS test program currently involves 34 Importers and 17 Customs Brokers participating in ACE Release 3 ˆ Periodic Monthly Statements. In all, there are approximately 350 CBP personnel and trade community representatives involved in the three-month ACE pilot test. The CBP test participants include employees from the CBP National Finance Center (NFC), as well as import and entry specialists, account managers, and client representatives.

"The launch of Periodic Payment and other account revenue capabilities marks a key period of growth for ACE and CBP," said US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner in a recent statement. "This is another important step toward enhancing our ability to both protect America's borders and expedite legitimate trade. The ACE will provide CBP personnel with the information they need to decide what should be targeted because it is a security threat, and what should be expedited because it complies with US laws, before a shipment reaches the border."

"We are proud to share this ‘first’ with TradePoint Systems. As a long-time participant in CBP technology initiatives, Menlo Worldwide Trade Services is pleased to continue our leadership position with the first successful transmission of an Entry Summary for the Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS) test," said Ted Iwaszkiw, Vice President of Menlo Worldwide Trade Services. "This achievement is of particular importance as CBP and other global customs authorities seek to implement new regulatory and security initiatives while maintaining the free flow of international commerce."

"We currently have five customers that are receiving training from CBP on the Periodic Monthly Payment Statement Process. We will continue to work every step of the way with CBP to ensure that our customers are ready in advance with all mandated changes,", said Ken Halle, Chief Operating Officer at TradePoint Systems. "We pride ourselves on our customer‚s successes with some of the lowest error rates in the industry. TradePoint will remain at the forefront of all new programs associated with ACE, AES and C-TPAT."