| Title: | DISCONTINUING ABI APPLICATION GI - MANUAL CERTIFICATION |
|---|---|
| Date: | 1993-09-28 |
| To: | abi |
| Links: | previous, next |
ON JUNE 21, 1993, ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE NUMBER 93-0583 WAS
ISSUED STATING THAT CUSTOMS' ACS WILL DISCONTINUE ACCEPTING ABI
APPLICATION 'GI' AS A VALID METHOD FOR CERTIFYING CARGO RELEASE
(CF3461) DATA. THE MESSAGE FURTHER STATES THAT THE CHANGE WOULD
BE EFFECTIVE SIX MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE MESSAGE. THREE
MONTHS HAVE NOW PASSED AND THERE HAS BEEN NO APPRECIABLE DECREASE
IN THE NUMBER OF FILERS CERTIFYING THEIR CARGO RELEASE DATA USING
APPLICATION 'GI'. APPROXIMATELY 275 FILERS CONTINUE TO DO SO.
CUSTOMS IS ON TRACK TO ABOLISH APPLICATION 'GI' EFFECTIVE THREE
MONTHS FROM NOW. WHEN THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED CUSTOMS' ACS WILL
BE UNABLE TO ACCEPT ENTRIES FROM FILERS WHOSE ABI PROGRAMMING
DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR THE ALTERNATIVE AUTO-CERTIFICATION METHOD
DESCRIBED IN ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE 93-0583.
IF YOU ARE STILL USING APPLICATION 'GI' OR IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHAT
METHOD YOU USE TO CERTIFY YOUR CARGO RELEASE DATA, YOU ARE URGED
TO CONTACT YOUR SOFTWARE PROVIDER TO ENSURE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE
TO USE AUTO-CERTIFICATION WHEN APPLICATION 'GI' IS DICONTINUED.
THE FOLLOWING IS A REPEAT OF ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE 93-0583.
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SUBMITTING ELECTRONIC CF3461 (ENTRY) DATA TO ACS IS A TWO STEP
PROCESS: 1) THE ENTRY DATA IS TRANSMITTED AND, 2) THE ENTRY IS
CERTIFIED. THE ENTRY DATA IS SUPPLIED USING EITHER ABI
APPLICATION HI (CARGO RELEASE) OR APPLICATION EI (ENTRY SUMMARY).
THE CARGO RELEASE CERTIFICATION IS GENERALLY REFERRED TO AS THE
"ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE" AND, WHEN ASSOCIATED WITH ENTRY SUMMARY
DATA, INSTRUCTS ACS TO EXTRACT THE DATA NECESSARY TO BUILD A
CARGO RELEASE RECORD FROM THE ENTRY SUMMARY DATA.
CURRENTLY THERE ARE TWO METHODS FOR SUBMITTING AN ELECTRONIC
CARGO RELEASE CERTIFICATION REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE SOURCE OF
ENTRY DATA IS FROM CARGO RELEASE APPLICATION HI OR ENTRY SUMMARY
APPLICATION EI. THE DATA CAN BE "MANUALLY" CERTIFIED USING
APPLICATION GI OR CAN BE "AUTO" CERTIFIED BY SETTING A FLAG
WITHIN THE JOB CONTAINING THE ENTRY DATA.
MAINTAINING PROGRAMS TO PERMIT BOTH METHODS OF CERTIFICATION
CREATES PROBLEMS WITHIN ACS WHICH CUSTOMS INTENDS TO RESOLVE BY
DISCONTINUING APPLICATION GI AS A METHOD OF CARGO RELEASE
CERTIFICATION. CUSTOMS RECENTLY DISCOVERED SEVERAL DIFFERENCES
IN THE RESULTS OF ENTRY DATA VALIDATION AND PROCESSING DEPENDING
ON THE METHOD OF CERTIFICATION USED. CORRECTING THESE
INCONSISTENCIES WOULD REQUIRE A SIGNIFICANT PROGRAMMING EFFORT.
INSTEAD, ABOLISHING MANUAL CERTIFICATION WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
IT WILL ALSO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ABI JOBS PROCESSED, LESSENING
THE BURDEN ON ACS PROCESSING AND COMMUNICATIONS. REMOVING THE
REDUNDANT PROGRAMS WILL ALSO REDUCE THE TIME NECESSARY TO
IMPLEMENT CHANGES TO THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS, AN AREA WHICH IS
FREQUENTLY MODIFIED.
MANUAL CERTIFICATION EXISTED BEFORE AUTO-CERTIFICATION BUT WAS
NOT DISCONTINUED WHEN AUTO-CERTIFICATION WAS IMPLEMENTED. AUTO-
CERTIFICATION PERMITS ALL OF THE SAME CAPABILITIES AS MANUAL
CERTIFICATION EXCEPT ONE. MANUAL CERTIFICATION PERMITS
TRANSMISSION OF ENTRY DATA AND ALLOWS THE FILER TO TRANSMIT THE
CERTIFICATION AT A LATER TIME WITHOUT RETRANSMITTING THE ENTRY
DATA. AUTO-CERTIFICATION DOES PERMIT TRANSMISSION OF ENTRY DATA
WITHOUT CERTIFICATION AND LATER TRANSMISSION OF THE
CERTIFICATION, BUT REQUIRES THE ENTRY DATA TO BE RESENT WITH THE
CERTIFICATION.
ANALYSIS OF THE HOW MANUAL CERTIFICATIONS ARE CURRENTLY SUBMITTED
INDICATES THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS SUBMITTED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE
ENTRY DATA. INSTANCES OF DELAYS BETWEEN THE TIME OF TRANSMISSION
OF ENTRY DATA AND MANUAL CERTIFICATION ARE EXTREMELY RARE.
CERTIFICATION OF ENTRY DATA WILL CONTINUE TO BE REQUIRED BY USING
THE AUTO-CERTIFICATION METHOD. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY INSERTING
A 1 IN POSITION 41 OF THE H1 RECORD IF CERTIFYING CARGO RELEASE
(HI) DATA, OR BY INSERTING A 1 IN POSITION 38 OF THE 30 RECORD IF
CERTIFYING ENTRY SUMMARY (EI) DATA. DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH THE
PAPERLESS SUMMARY CERTIFICATION FIELD IN POSITION 37 OF THE SAME
RECORD. NOTE THAT CERTIFICATION IS NOT APPLICABLE TO BORDER
CARGO SELECTIVITY ENTRIES (APPLICATION HN).
DISCONTINUING APPLICATION GI WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE 6 MONTHS FROM
THE DATE OF THIS MESSAGE. AS A REMINDER, THIS MESSAGE WILL BE
ISSUED AGAIN IN 3 MONTHS AND AGAIN ONE WEEK BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE
DATE. IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS
CHANGE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CLIENT REPRESENTATIVE.