ACAS, which analyses advance data on inbound air shipments to the U.S. to assess risk, is in a pilot phase, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)has signaled that it intends to expand it to apply to all inbound air cargo via a rulemaking.

The Airforwarders Association (AfA), the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), and the Express Delivery and Logistics Association (XLA) have jointly sent letters to CBP and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) noting their support of the concept of the ACAS programme’s risk-based analysis at the shipment level, but saying “we are concerned about certain issues which we feel have not yet been fully resolved within the ACAS pilot”.

The four associations are concerned that the ACAS pilot programme has involved only a handful of forwarders, mostly larger operations that already have integrated supply chains and an overseas infrastructure.

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