WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says truck-processing deployment under the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is halfway to being completed.

So far, 44 land border ports are actively using ACE in some capacity.

In June, ACE was deployed to Champlain, Mooers, Rouses Point, Overton’s Corner and Cannon Corners in New York. The next New York port deployments include: Trout River, Chateaugay, Fort Covington, Churubusco, Jamieson Line, Ogdensburg, Massena, Alexandria Bay, and the Peace and Lewiston bridges in Buffalo. ”

“We’re down to the home stretch on port deployments,” said Cargo Systems Program Office Executive Director Louis Samenfink in CBP’s newsletter. “Now we focus on making sure the transition to mandatory electronic manifests is as smooth as possible.”

Beginning later this year, ACE e-Manifests will become mandatory for trucks on a port-by-port basis. The mandatory e-Manifest policy is expected to be in effect at all land border ports by the end of 2007.

The e-Manifest feature is available at all ACE ports, which currently include land ports in the states of Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington.

At those ports only ACE e-manifest participants are not turned away if they arrive at the border crossing before advance cargo information (PAPS, QP) is received by CBP.

Parties may submit e-Manifests through the ACE Secure Data Portal, or via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Over 10,000 e-Manifests have been filed to date, with nearly 300 companies certified to submit e-Manifests via EDI and more than 1,500 carriers signed up for ACE portal accounts, CBP reports.

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs also announced recently that the Canada-U.S. border crossings of Massena, N.Y.; Ogdensburg, N.Y.; Oroville, Wash.; and Sault Ste Marie, Mich. will accept FAST trucks beginning August 31, 2006.