CSMS Message: 93-000456

THE U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE BUREAU OF ALCOHOL,
TOBACCO AND FIREARMS TO DEVELOP AN AUTOMATED INTERFACE WHEREBY
INFORMATION VITAL TO THE FACILITATION OF TRADE FOR MERCHANDISE WITHIN
THEIR PURVIEW COULD BE ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED VIA THE ACS AUTOMATED
BROKER INTERFACE SYSTEM (ABI).

AS A FIRST STEP, WE ARE NOW PROVIDING ATF, ON A WEEKLY BASIS, CF7501
ENTRY SUMMARY DATA ON ALL IMPORTED MERCHANDISE SUBJECT TO THEIR REVIEW.
THIS ELECTRONIC PROCESS REPLACES ATF'S PREVIOUS METHOD OF MONITORING
ENTRIES VIA PAPER DOCUMENTATION.

THE SECOND PHASE OF OUR COOPERATIVE EFFORTS WILL INVOLVE AUTOMATED
COLLECTION OF SPECIFIC ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE ENTRY DATA RELATED TO ATF FORM
5100.31 (APPLICATION FOR AND CERTIFICATION/EXEMPTION OF LABEL/BOTTLE
APPROVAL), ALSO KNOWN BY THE ACRONYM "COLA." THE PURPOSE IS TO ULTIMATELY
ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT FOR SUBMISSION OF PAPER FORM 5100.31 FOR
CUSTOMS ABI USERS. THIS PROJECT IS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED FOR LATE 1993.
FORMAL NOTIFICATION TO ABI FILERS AND SOFTWARE VENDORS IS PROJECTED FOR
EARLY AUGUST 1993.

IN THE INTERIM, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT FLAGS FOR THIS INTERFACE ARE
BEING PLACED IN THE ACS HARMONIZED TARIFF SYSTEM FILE ON ALL NUMBERS
RELATED TO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE PRODUCTS. THE FLAGS ARE:

TL1 = ATF FORM 5100.31 MAY BE REQUIRED
TL2 = ATF FORM 5100.31 REQUIRED

UNTIL THE INTERFACE IS IMPLEMENTED LATER THIS YEAR, THESE FLAGS WILL
NOT BE ACTIVATED AND WILL NOT, IN ANY WAY, AFFECT THE PROCESSING OF
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE ENTRIES IN ACS. HOWEVER, ABI FILERS MAY CHOOSE TO USE
THE FLAGS AS A PROMPT WITHIN THEIR OWN AUTOMATED SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY
MERCHANDISE REQUIRING, OR POSSIBLY REQUIRING, LABEL APPROVAL FORMS.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON PREPARATION FOR AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS
INTERFACE WILL BE PROVIDED THROUGH ACS ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGES.
QUESTIONS REGARDING THE ATF INTERFACE MAY BE DIRECTED TO YOUR ABI CLIENT
REPRESENTATIVE OR THE ATF PROJECT OFFICER, BECKY TRAFTON, AT CUSTOMS
HDQTRS., PHONE: 202/927-0721.