AESDirect Weblink Transition Guidance for the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)

December 11, 2015

 

AESDirect Weblink Transition Guidance for the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)

 

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

 

Attention All Weblink Filers of the AESDirect System… Please read this message in its entirety. There will be a webinar and a live Q&A held for Weblink application developers only on 12/21 at 2pm and details are below.

 

With the AESDirect program transitioning to ACE, there will be some changes required of all software developers that use Weblink through the legacy AESDirect application. The changes, detailed below, are being provided in advance of a testing region being made available in early 2016 for proper planning by program developers.

These changes will be part of a coordinated effort between developers, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Census Bureau. Each application developer will work directly with staff from Census Bureau and/or CBP to coordinate their transition to include testing in early 2016 when the region is made available and deploying to production once satisfactory testing is complete.

In spring of 2016, the Weblink 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

A summary of the changes are as follows: •Moving the WebLink API to the new ACE requires the following:

–Change the URL to: https://ace.cbp.dhs.gov/aesd/ta/aes-direct/secured/createWeblinkFiling

–All Weblink application developers should make it clear to the user through proper informational messages and outreach that the user MUST be logged in to ACE portal before they can submit filings through Weblink in ACE.

  • CBP will not support any content scraping
  • The form field names used in the new system will be the same as the Legacy AESDirect.

 

A webinar and live Q&A session will be held on Thursday, December 21, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. ET for developers that have Weblink application. 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 application developers only.

If you are a Weblink developer, 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 Weblink Company Information."

All Weblink 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 all developers begin programming the changes and educating their users as soon as possible. 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).