CSMS Message: 98-000546

****** ATTENTION - INFORMATION ON YEAR 2000 ******
***** REMINDER *******

DEAR INTERESTED PARTIES:

THE HIGHEST AUTOMATION PRIORITY AT THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE IS TO
ENSURE THAT THE AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL SYSTEM (ACS) CONTINUES TO OPERATE
EFFECTIVELY IN THE NEXT CENTURY. TO MEET THE YEAR 2000 CHALLENGE, ENSURE
BUSINESS OPERATES AS USUAL ON JANUARY 1, 2000, AND SATISFY THE DEPARTMENT
OF THE TREASURY'S MANDATE TO BE YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT BY OCTOBER 1998,
CUSTOMS HAS DEVELOPED A DETAILED PROJECT PLAN TO CONVERT, TEST, VALIDATE,
AND IMPLEMENT ALL ACS MISSION CRITICAL APPLICATIONS.

TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT ON THE TRADE COMMUNITY, CUSTOMS WILL NOT CHANGE THE
RECORD FORMATS, WHICH INCLUDE THE DATE FIELDS, THAT ARE CURRENTLY
TRANSMITTED TO CUSTOMS USING THE RECORD FORMATS DESCRIBED IN THE CUSTOMS
AND TRADE AUTOMATED INTERFACE REQUIREMENTS (CATAIR) DOCUMENT AND THE
CUSTOMS AUTOMATED MANIFEST INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS (CAMIR) DOCUMENT.

CUSTOMS WILL USE THREE YEAR 2000 METHODS OF CONVERSION TO ACHIEVE YEAR
2000 COMPLIANCE. HOWEVER, THE CONVERSION METHODOLOGY WILL BE TRANSPARENT
TO THE AUTOMATED BROKER INTERFACE (ABI) CLIENT. ALL DATA RECEIVED (ABI,
OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCY, ELECTRONIC DATA INTERFACE, OR FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION) WILL BE TRANSLATED AND CONVERTED BY A TRANSLATOR PROGRAM.

FOR THE LATEST STATISTICS REGARDING THE YEAR 2000 PROGRAMMING
RENOVATIONS FOR THE CUSTOMS COMPUTER APPLICATIONS,
PLEASE REFER TO THE CUSTOMS HOME PAGE ON THE INTERNET,
AT WWW.CUSTOMS.USTREAS.GOV (LOWER CASE).

*** INFORMATION ON THE HARMONIZED TARIFF DATE FORMAT CHANGES
TO ACCOMODATE YEAR 2000 (REFER TO ADMIN 98-0164)

ALTHOUGH THERE ARE NO CHANGES TO THE CATAIR RECORD LAYOUTS FOR THE YEAR
2000, PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EFFECTIVE DATES IN THE QUERY HARMONIZED TARIFF
FILES AND ACS COUNTRY CODE FILES WILL BE MODIFIED TO INDICATE "999999" AS
THE "INFINITY" ENDING DATE FOR THOSE RECORDS WHICH HAVE NO EXPIRATION.
CURRENTLY, THOSE RECORDS HAVE AN INDICATED ENDING DATE OF 123199.

BECAUSE OF YEAR 2000, THERE WILL BE HARMONIZED TARIFF RECORDS AND ACS
COUNTRY CODE RECORDS WITH A LEGITIMATE ENDING DATE OF 123199. TO
DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THOSE TARIFF RECORDS LEGITIMATELY EXPIRING ON 123199
AND THOSE THAT HAVE NO EXPIRATION DATE, CUSTOMS WILL BE USING AN ENDING
DATE OF "999999" (INFINITY DATE) TO INDICATE THOSE RECORDS WHICH
DO NOT EXPIRE. THESE CHANGES WILL BE INSTALLED ON OR ABOUT JUNE 1, 1998.

IN ADDITION, SOME TARIFF RECORDS WILL HAVE DATES THAT WILL SPAN THE
CENTURY CHANGE. FOR EXAMPLE, A TARIFF RECORD COULD BECOME EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 1999 AND EXPIRE ON JUNE 30, 2000. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE
REFLECTED IN A SINGLE TARIFF RECORD FOR THE SPECIFIC TARIFF NUMBER.
CLIENTS USING VENDOR SUPPLIED SOFTWARE PACKAGES SHOULD ENSURE THAT
THEIR VENDORS WILL BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THESE CHANGES.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
YOUR ACS CLIENT REPRESENTATIVE.