EDI Transition Guidance for AESDirect EDI and VPN Filers

December 9, 2015,

 

EDI Transition Guidance for AESDirect EDI and VPN Filers

THIS IS NOT INTENDED FOR AESDIRECT PORTAL FILERS OR USERS OF AESPCLINK

Attention All EDI and VPN Filers of the AESDirect System… Please read this message in its entirety. There will be a webinar and a live Q&A held on 12/17 at 2pm and details are below.

With the AESDirect program transitioning to ACE, there will be changes required of all software developers and companies that transmit EDI through the legacy AESDirect application. The transition options are detailed below for your consideration.

The transition will be part of a coordinated effort between developers/companies, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Census Bureau. Each developer/company will work directly with staff from Census Bureau and/or CBP to coordinate their transition as needed.

In spring of 2016, the EDI filing options through aesdirect.census.gov will be phased out. This will require all EDI filers to adapt to a new EDI offering provided by ACE in order to ensure business continuity. The first step, regardless of how you plan to file in the new system, is to obtain ACE Exporter account access. More information on the transition including how to set up an account or add the exporter role to an existing account, information regarding the new AESDirect system, etc. is available online at:

http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ACE_Portal%20Exporter%20Account%20QRG.pdf


Here are the options that will be available for EDI filing in ACE:

EDI Bulk Upload: When the AESDirect Portal is deployed in November 2015, bulk upload will be available. This will allow filers to upload a file (in AESTIR or X12 format) from their computer and submit for processing. ITNs will be emailed to the user and each batch of EEI will be available in the system to review, amend, etc. This option only requires an ACE Exporter Account for transition.

Sending Directly to AES via VPN:

If you currently send using AESDirect VPN client, this version will not be supported once AESDirect is refactored into ACE. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) only supports their approved VPN client and it is available for free now for the transition. Specific information to help in determining the right VPN method of connectivity for your company is available at:

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/trade-community/automated/automated-systems/data-communications-changes#wcm-survey-target-id

A Letter of Intent (LOI) must be completed online in order for your company to be assigned a CBP client representative. They will start the VPN connectivity process for you with DHS and will test your ability to send the EEI correctly into CBP’s test Certification area prior to being allowed to send live data into the Production system. The LOI is located at:

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/aes/letter-intent/form-commodity-data

You must self-develop your own application software or purchase software from a vendor in order to send via VPN client. You also must complete an Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA). A list of software vendors is available at:

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aes/documentlibrary/vendors.html

Instructions for the ISA :

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/interconnection-security-agreement/instructions



Sending to AES via a Value-Added Network (VAN):

Value Added Networks (VANs) offer clients of their networks various communications protocol options such as secure FTP, HTTPS, VPN, and MQ over IP to name a few. Many VANs also offer in-network message translation services to convert data streams to conform to interface requirements of the many CBP Trade systems. A list of VANs with connectivity already established with DHS are available at:

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/ace/truck-manifest/value-added-networks

A Letter of Intent (LOI) must be completed online in order for your company to be assigned a CBP client representative. They will start the VPN connectivity process for you with DHS and will test your ability to send the EEI correctly into CBP’s test Certification area prior to being allowed to send live data into the Production system. No ISA is needed. The LOI is located at:

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/aes/letter-intent/form-commodity-data



Sending to AES via a Service Center/Service Provider:

A trade partner may opt to connect indirectly to CBP via a service center/service provider.  A service center is an entity that outsources its services to clients to transmit transaction data to CBP on the client’s behalf.  The service center forwards the client’s data to CBP via its own MQ server and network connections for a fee.

A Letter of Intent (LOI) must be completed online in order for your company to be activated for the specific service center you have contracted with to use. No testing or ISA is involved.

A list of Service Centers is available at:

http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aes/documentlibrary/vendors.html

The LOI is located at:

http://www.cbp.gov/trade/aes/letter-intent/form-commodity-data


A webinar and live Q&A session will be held on Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. ET for developers/companies that use EDI or VPN. The call-in information will be provided in a broadcast directly to that group based on registration information collected in AESDirect. This call is for direct transmitters to AESDirect and developers only.

If you are a developer or your company transmits data directly to AESDirect via EDI or VPN, please login and confirm that your email address is correct in your legacy AESDirect profile. If your email address is not correct, please send your updated email address and phone contact information to askaes@census.gov with a subject of "Updated EDI/VPN Company Information."

All EDI/VPN filers, please ensure that you have ACE exporter access in preparation for the forthcoming transition, per below:

If you have ACE Exporter Account access, you can file using the new system. If you have not yet obtained ACE Exporter Account access, please review the broadcast message covering ACE registration and exporter access.

For more information, including the new user guide, FAQs, archived broadcast messages, training materials, etc. please the ACE Transition page. The ACE One-Pager also has a wealth of contact information and resource links to assist you with this transition.

It is extremely important that you determine the transition option best suited for your company and pursue it as soon as possible if you plan to continue to transmit EDI to AES. The legacy AESDirect application (aesdirect.census.gov) will be phased out in the spring of 2016 and will no longer be a mechanism for submitting Electronic Export Information (EEI).