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CSMS # 57625754 - FDA’s Import Systems Planned Maintenance from September 9, 2023, 11:00 p.m. ET to September 10, 2023, 2:00 a.m. ET

Due to planned maintenance, FDA’s ITACS (Import Trade Auxiliary Communications System) and multiple internal import systems will be unavailable September 9, 2023, 11:00 p.m. ET to September 10, 2023, 2:00 a.m. ET.

Entry Processing

During this time:

• FDA will not process any inbound entries or outbound messages.
• Status messages generated during this window will be queued and sent to CBP when the interface is restored.
• Do not resubmit entries as this will increase the processing time to catch up when the interface is restored.

Prior Notice impact during this time:

• Prior Notices can be submitted via both the Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI) as well as the Automated Broker Interface (ABI)/Automated Commercial Environment (ACE); PNSI will be operational during the outage window.
• There may be a delay in review of Prior Notices. This delay may lead to Prior Notices being reviewed beyond expected timeframes (Truck/Land: 2 hours, Rail/Air: 4 hours, Sea: 8 hours). Please file your Prior Notices early to mitigate the impact of the delay.
• Please do not resubmit entries as this will cause additional delays

For additional details, see Prior Notice Contingency Scenario 1: Prior Notice Contingency Scenario 1

For questions regarding Prior Notice, or with perishable shipments, please contact the FDA's Division of Food Defense Targeting (DFDT). The DFDT can be reached 24/7/365 at (866) 521-2297 or prior.notice@fda.hhs.gov.

ITACS

If documents and/or availability information must be submitted during the downtime, they can be submitted to the local FDA office at the port of entry via that office’s preferred alternate communication method. Contact information for all FDA import offices can be found on FDA’s Import Offices and Ports of Entry web page: Import Offices and Ports of Entry | FDA.

Following the deployment, the character limit for the Additional Information field on the Document Submission screen will be reduced from 4,000 to 1,000 characters. As a reminder this field is to be used to provide additional information regarding the documents being uploaded for review, vs. additional information regarding the product being offered for import.  If there is additional information regarding the product being offered for import that needs to be submitted, that information should be included in a document and uploaded for FDA review. 

Questions regarding ITACS downtime can be sent to ITACS Support at ITACSSupport@fda.hhs.gov.