On January 12, 2017, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the suspension of its Automated Commercial Environment/International Trade Data System (ACE/ITDS) pilot program. Under the pilot program the agency had flagged thousands of tariff numbers with the PGA code FW2, which required submission of data on many articles that had not been previously collected; even in cases where the goods were not subject to FWS regulation and could be “disclaimed,” the agency required the submission of a limited data set, including the name and address of the responsible party. During the interim period, the FWS will shift all tariffs flagged as FW2 to an FW1, with the exception of certain tariff numbers which require mandatory processing via the FWS extended data set (EDS) system. Tariff numbers flagged with an FW1 will allow a disclaimer flag to be filed in cases where it is appropriate, rather than submission of the limited data set previously required. The FWS will continue to work with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) FWS working group to explore alternative methods to collect data to ensure that goods are being properly declared. Please send an email to Deringer's Compliance Department or call (518) 298-8281 with any questions.