It is good to be here with members of the trade community who are instrumental to our modernization efforts of ACE—our partners in the Trade Support Network.

Your level of commitment to the development of ACE is truly amazing—and deeply appreciated by CBP.

I’ve been Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection for six months now, and as you may have heard, I’ve been on the road quite a bit, trying to get a firsthand view of CBP’s huge border mission.

One of my personal goals for these trips was to gain a better understanding of CBP’s trade mission, and wherever my travels have taken me, I’ve made a point of meeting with trade groups.

In fact, my first speech was to the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) in June, and since then, I have spoken to a number of other trade organizations.

And outside of these more formal settings, I have taken every opportunity to spend time with members of the trade community as they find themselves in the Ronald Reagan Building.

I had a great dialogue with the ACE Trade Ambassadors a while back—and I didn’t even have to go anywhere—they came right to my conference room!

I have also met with the TSN Leadership Council and I am actively involved with COAC, the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee. I’ve met with retailers and manufacturers, and I have visited many of our seaports around the nation, as well as CSI ports overseas. Yesterday I returned from India, Pakistan and Dubai.

In all my travels and meetings with the trade community, one theme has emerged:

ACS and ACE underpin our ability to move trade efficiently and securely—and that makes it essential to both our nation’s economic well-being and our national security.

ACE is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s priority initiatives.

A few weeks ago, I met with Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson and asked for his approval for the continued funding of ACE.

I talked to him about the tremendous need for modernizing our existing systems.

And,I made it clear that the open and honest dialog we have had with our trade partners has been critical to our current success with the program—and will be equally important to our future progress.

I am pleased to report that he voiced his strong support for ACE, as well as his approval of the latest funding plan.

SAFE Port Act and ACE
This morning I want to focus my remarks on ACE: how the recently enacted SAFE Port Act will impact our plans for the coming year, and how we will be moving forward to make ACE the fully functioning business and security tool that we have envisioned for so long.

Let me begin by making two observations about this new law.

First—and perhaps most obvious—this legislation is an overwhelming endorsement of the systems and programs CBP, the trade community, and our international partners put in place right after 9/11 to help secure our homeland.

And second, the SAFE Port Act codifies our strategy to both secure and facilitate trade—from advance information, risk targeting, and technology to our partnerships at home and abroad.

And, it was a collaborative effort of the White House, Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, and the trade community.

We can all be proud of this accomplishment.

10 + 2
With the components of our strategy in place, and now enacted into law, we are moving ahead to refine and expand elements of the strategy.

With advance data, for example, the Act underscores the need for advance information to screen the millions of cargo containers flow through our ports of entry each year.

It further requires the electronic transmission of additional data elements for improved high-risk targeting prior to loading of cargo on vessels at foreign ports.

In fact, for many months now, we’ve been looking at what additional data elements would improve our ability to assess risk for terrorism.

TSN members have been an essential voice in these discussions.

And, CBP deeply appreciates the countless hours members of the Supply Chain Security Committee have spent discussing requirements for advance data.

Determining additional data elements has been a challenge.

But, we have developed what’s being referred to by the trade community as "Ten Plus Two": ten data elements from importers or their designated agents, and two types of data from carriers that will be required 24 hours before vessel lading.

While we’ve made great progress with the concept of “Ten Plus Two,” we still have much work to do on this issue.

Some of you are members of COAC, and you know that we have established a subcommittee for further discussions on the input we need for “Ten Plus Two.”

This information ranges from definitions and technology…to the actual transmission of the data elements.

Your input is critical to this process. That is why we specifically asked the subcommittee to include several TSN members, and why I personally asked for a panel on this subject to be scheduled in your meeting today (which I understand took place before lunch).

We want to make sure all the right parties are working together on this important issue.

ITDS
As you know from the discussions this morning, the SAFE Port Act officially establishes the International Trade Data System—ITDS— under the Department of the Treasury and mandates that all Federal agencies with import or export documentation requirements participate in the system.

This puts us on the fast track toward achieving the reality of a single window to government for trade data.

This also means that companies need only submit a standard set of trade data one time, in one electronic format, to meet all government requirements. No more multiple submissions of the same information. With ITDS, it’s one place, one format, one time. Right now, 29 agencies participate in ITDS.

Last year’s adoption of the WCO Framework makes the single window into government and standard set of trade data through ITDS even more promising. With 138 of its 169 members having signed onto the Framework, the potential of achieving common standards to both secure and facilitate global trade is unprecedented.

ACE: Moving Us Forward
ACE plays an integral role in securing our borders and facilitating trade and travel, and is one of the largest IT development projects taking place in the U.S. government today.

At the same time, we know that the continued successful operation of our current system, the Automated Commercial System—or ACS—is vital to you, as well.

Keeping ACS up and running effectively is also a top priority within CBP.

ACE provides the cargo management, screening, and targeting capabilities that make our layered defense strategy work.

Like the foundation of a building, ACE provides the technology that integrates and strengthens the business processes of the strategy.

ACE is transforming the way government does business.

It is quickly becoming an integral part of business life, and as you all know, in the future, it will be the primary trade processing system used by CBP.

Periodic Monthly Statements
With your help, ACE is already offering a number of benefits to both government and the trade.

The Periodic Monthly Statement capability of ACE is a huge success.

It allows importers a way to pay duties and fines on a monthly basis, not for each transaction.

Many of you here are using it, and those of you who are not, should consider signing on.

In the two years the periodic payment capability has existed, we have collected about $8 billion in duties and fees through this feature.

E-manifest
ACE also provides electronic truck manifest capability. Many of you already send us your manifests electronically.

Since we received our first e-Manifest nearly two years ago, more than 50,000 have been filed. We receive more than 5,000 e-manifests a week.

Next month, in late January 2007, CBP will begin mandating the use of e-Manifests for trucks at the first group of land border ports in Washington state, Arizona, and certain ports in North Dakota.

The mandatory e-manifest policy eventually will be enforced at all land border ports.

We are phasing in the policy with appropriate transition periods.

Schedules for additional ports will be announced in the Federal Register and will be posted on the CBP Web site 90 days in advance.

ACE, coupled with our FAST—Free and Secure Trade—program gives CBP something we’ve never had before—advance, electronic information from truck carriers.

For the first time, the officer in the booth and the carrier come together through the transmission of ACE data.

And that means we can use the information to target high-risk shipments, while we facilitate the speedy release of low-risk, FAST shipments.

We are constantly working toward something all good business people value—and that is customer satisfaction.

While ACE is a complex and challenging program, the feedback we’ve received is generally positive and encouraging.

As we continue to improve the periodic monthly payment, e-Manifest, and other ACE capabilities, our goal is to ensure the process is smooth and efficient. We want goods to flow in and out of the country as freely as possibly. Moving goods to market faster—and at lower cost—is good for business. It is good for the American consumer. And, it is good for the economy.

ACE is changing the way we do business in the 21st Century.

Over the next few years, through ACE, we will integrate or replace virtually all CBP trade processing systems.

By 2010, we expect ACE to be fully deployed to our more than 300 official ports of entry, covering rail sea, and air cargo processing.

We will be seeing more ACE electronic manifests for virtually all modes of transportation with new cargo control and release capabilities.

We are currently in the critical design and testing stages of rolling out ACE, beginning with ocean and rail, and later airports and even pipelines.

ACE will be the only system importers and transportation providers will use to move goods into or through the United States using all modes of transportation.

ACE will also lead to a paperless process. Currently, 30 to 50 percent of all entries require paper. Each month, some companies send millions of pieces of paper to CBP. With ACE, we can eliminate the time and expense of processing and storing all that paper. And that fact alone will provide substantial savings and increased efficiency for CBP and for the trade community.

Conclusion
In the months and years to come, CBP remains committed to looking strategically at every aspect of ACE.

We continually look critically at our processes. We are evolving and adapting, and as always, looking to you to provide us with feedback on how to make our systems better.

The progress we have made—and the continued support we have received from Congress and the Department of Homeland Security—is a result of the hard work of the ACE program team and our partners in the trade community.

As CBP moves forward on the mandatory e-Manifest policy, beginning in January and with the introduction of a broad range of new Entry features on the horizon for the next few years, our partnership with TSN will be more important than ever before. [Entry Summary, Accounts and Revenue (ESAR)]

ACE capabilities will redefine many business processes, and the successful implantation of these capabilities depends on open communication and active coordination between CBP and the trade community.

You have my commitment to our important partnership.

ACE could not have progressed this far without you. And, it can’t reach its full potential without you either.

ACE is the future of CBP and the trade community, and we will move forward on it together.

Thank you for being here today and thank you for all you have done—and continue to do—to ensure the success of ACE.

I look forward to more good progress on ACE in the new year.

Now, I’ll be happy to take questions you might have.

Commissioner Basham reserves the right to edit his written remarks during his oral presentation and to speak extemporaneously. His actual remarks, as given, therefore, may vary slightly from the written text.