Customs and Border Protection, the lead government agency at the border, agrees that importers have a legitimate gripe when it comes to the cargo clearance delays and the economic burden they face from redundant or conflicting regulations.

"If CBP does not support a strong economy, we're not doing our job," Brenda Brockman Smith, executive director, trade policy and programs, said.

Customs actually began to develop a "single window" for import documentation in the mid-1990s. The International Trade Data System is part of the umbrella automation effort known as the Automated Commercial Environment. Like ACE, however, development of the ITDS has been delayed by inadequate funding, politics and the terrorist attacks of September 11.

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