Glossary
What is ACE (the Automated Commercial Environment)?
The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is the electronic system through which import and export data is filed with US Customs and Border Protection. It is the United States’ single window for trade processing. |
What does ACE handle?
- Entry and entry summary filings for imports
- Manifest data across air, ocean, rail and truck
- Partner government agency messages, including FDA, USDA and EPA requirements
- Export filing through the Automated Export System
Who can file into ACE?
A licensed customs broker, or a self-filing importer holding a filer code. Most importers work through a broker, but the ACE portal account still matters on its own it is where an importer sees their own entry data, duty statements and security filing status rather than relying on being told.
Why the single window matters
ACE consolidated dozens of separate agency processes into one filing, replacing the legacy ACS system. For an exporter shipping to the States it means one dataset serves customs and the regulatory agencies together which also means one error propagates to all of them at once.
iCustoms prepares CBP-ready data from the same documents behind your UK declarations, so nothing is rekeyed. |
