CSMS Message: 00-000599

THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (FWS) HAS ANNOUNCED ITS DECISION TO
TERMINATE ITS ELECTRONIC INTERFACE WITH U.S. CUSTOMS. EFFECTIVE JULY 3,
2000 FILERS WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO FILE FWS ENTRIES USING THE AUTOMATED
BROKER INTERFACE (ABI). THIS MEANS THAT INSTEAD OF SUBMITTING BOTH THE
ELECTRONIC AND PAPER VERSION OF FWS ENTRIES, FILERS WILL SUBMIT ONLY A
PAPER FWS FORM 3-177 ALONG WITH THE REQUIRED DOCUMENT PACKAGE TO FWS TO
OBTAIN FWS CLEARANCE. SUBSEQUENTLY, FILERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT
COPIES OF THE CLEARED FWS DECLARATION TO U.S. CUSTOMS TO SECURE RELEASE
OF THEIR SHIPMENTS. IN THE PAST, THE CUSTOMS/FWS INTERFACE PERMITTED
PAPERLESS FWS RELEASES FOR CERTAIN CAPTIVE-BRED NON-PROTECTED FURS.
HOWEVER, BECAUSE THESE ITEMS WILL STILL REQUIRE FWS CLEARANCE ONCE THE
ELECTRONIC INTERFACE IS TERMINATED FILERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT PAPER
DECLARATIONS FOR THESE ENTRIES.

TO AVOID THE SITUATION WHERE ABI TRANSMITTED FWS ENTRIES MAY NOT HAVE BEEN
PROCESSED IN ACS BY FWS INSPECTORS AT THE TIME OF THE INTERFACE
TERMINATION, FILERS ARE ENCOURAGED NOT TO FILE ABI FWS ENTRIES FOR
APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK PRIOR TO JULY 3, 2000. AFTER THAT DATE, FILERS MAY
RESUME TRANSMITTING ABI ENTRIES FOR SHIPMENTS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO FWS
REVIEW, BUT ALL SUCH ENTRIES WILL BE SUBJECT TO CUSTOMS DOCUMENT REVIEW
THAT WILL INCLUDE THE SUBMISSION OF THE PAPER FWS FORM 3-177 TO BOTH FWS
AND TO U. S. CUSTOMS. YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS MATTER IS GREATLY
APPRECIATED.

IF YOU HAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS MESSAGE PLEASE CALL YOUR LOCAL
OFFICE OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE OR CONTACT FWS HEADQUARTERS,
LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION, AT 703-358-1949.