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According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) media release, this week, the CBP has incorporated the U.S. Virgin Islands into the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) in order to expedite the importation process. This marks the end of a 3-year process known as the ““Paving the way forward: Transforming the V.I. Trade through Technology”.
As you are aware, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is the system through which the trade community reports imports and exports and the government determines admissibility.
CBP officers and representatives were also in the VI to perform training and to introduce the ACE system along with the APHIS Fruits and Vegetables Import Requirements (FAVIR) database. The FAVIR database allows customers to search fruits and vegetables by commodity and or country.
Besides discussing ACE and FAVIR, CBP also discussed the risk of importing counterfeit medicine and merchandise – with CBP stressing that “medicine can be dangerous and pose a great risk to your health” and that the ” proceeds from the sales of illicit and counterfeit goods can have a negative impact on the economy”.