ACE Phase 2 delayed for Washington, ND border crossings

WASHINGTON — The deadline for truckers entering the U.S. to file an e-manifest starting today, March 26, 2007, has been delayed once again to the end of April.

Phase 2 of the ACE e-manifest enforcement plan for Washington state and eastern North Dakota border crossings — including Pacific Highway and the port at Pembina — is now postponed until at least April 26, 2007; and Phase 3 will not take effect earlier than May 26, 2007.

Phase 1, which kicked-in January 25, 2007, will remain in effect at those crossings for at least the next 30 days.

The second phase of ACE denies entry to the U.S. for truckers who don’t at least attempt to file e-manifests. Phase 3, the hard enforcement part of the program, denies entry to any truck that arrives without an e-manifest being successfully received by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

CBP delayed the two enforcement phases because of recurring system problems in which carriers would sometimes not know if transmitted e-manifests were successfully received and processed by CBP.

CBP says it will continue to monitor the compliance rates and system issues prior to beginning the next phases of enforcement.