Customs Service Modernization

The U.S. Customs Service has requested $206.9 million for its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)–a new import processing system. Customs’ second expenditure plan provides for (1) meeting the Office of Management and Budget’s capital planning and investment control review requirements; (2) complying with Customs’ enterprise architecture; and (3) complying with federal acquisition rules, requirements, guidelines, and systems acquisition management practices. ACE will fundamentally change Customs’ and many other organizations’ business processes by introducing new system capabilities. ACE will be available around the clock to support important commercial and enforcement systems. Customs did not meet key commitments made in its first ACE expenditure plan because of underestimating funding requirements. Actual requirements were 90 percent higher than estimated. This history casts uncertainty on Customs’ ability to reliably estimate costs and meet future commitments. GAO found that Customs lacks management controls in four areas: enterprise architecture, human capital, software acquisition management, and cost estimation. Because Customs has compressed its ACE acquisition plans from five to four years, the degree of overlap of program increments has increased. This may increase the risk that ACE capabilities will not be delivered on time and within budget.