Funding battles delay Customs modernization project

The Customs Service expects its information technology modernization program to take an extra year to complete as a result of funding squabbles among Congress, the Clinton administration and the agency. Even so, Customs has pegged its hopes for the future on the yet-to-be-built Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). "Absent a massive staffing increase, we will heavily rely on the technology of ACE in the future," Customs' Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday at the U.S. Customs Trade Symposium 2000 in Washington. Kelly acknowledged that ACE was not funded to the level Customs desired, and said the effect was that ACE would take five years to complete. ACE was originally expected to take four years to complete. The delays don't stop there. Woody Hall, the chief information officer at Customs, said it will be about two years before the inspectors and the trade community see any new functionality. Funding for ACE is tied up in the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill, which President Clinton vetoed Oct. 30. The Treasury-Postal bill contained $130 million for ACE-$80 million less than Customs requested-and $123 million to keep Customs' current system, the aging Automated Commercial System (ACS) running. "ACS is really long past its useful life," Hall said. "We believe it is just matter of time before Congress is back in session and acts on the appropriations bills." The interagency International Trade Data System, a proposed Web-based front end for the public to interact with 40 trade-related agencies at the same time, will become the user interface for ACE. New technologies such as wireless systems and wearable computers may also be considered for deployment under ACE, Hall said. Customs is ready to solicit proposals for ACE within three days of receiving funds from Congress. Bidders will then have 45 days to file proposals. Customs expects to award the contract five to six months after that. Customs now expects ACE to cost $1.4 to $1.8 billion over seven years including development, operations and maintenance costs.