The check isn’t in the mail yet, but sources say an additional $5 million has been “found” for further development of U.S. Customs Service’s Automated Commercial Environment computer system.
(Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)
A spokeswoman in Rep. Jim Kolbe’s (R-Ariz.) office said the Treasury Department notified his office last week about the added funds for ACE, which will replace the outdated import-tracking process now in use. This brings the total for ACE development to $12 million for fiscal 2000.
Kolbe is chairman of the House Appropriation Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government. The panel holds sway over funding for Customs.
The agency is developing a replacement for its Automated Commercial System, a 17-year-old import filing process. Critics charge that the old system uses obsolete technology, such as COBOL computer programming, and has collapsed with hundreds of system outages a year ("Ill-funded Network on Life Support," 5-17, p. 12).
For the full story, see the May 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
