PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12
th
St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
                               DA 16-4
   Released:  January 6, 2016
OFFICE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY ADDRESSES
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT FCC FORM 740 ELECTRONIC FILING REQUIREMENTS
ET Docket No. 15-170
The purpose of this Public Notice is to reassure parties they can file FCC-required information 
electronically with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) using the ACE-Entry Summary or any 
other process that may be designated by CBP until the waiver provisions of a recent Order issued in ET 
Docket 15-170 take effect on July 1, 2016.
On October 19, 2015, the Commission released an Order that temporarily waived the 
requirements of rule sections 2.1203 and 2.1205 requiring the submission of information in connection 
with the importation of Radio Frequency (RF) devices, effective July 1, 2016.
1
  The paper form used to 
file this information is FCC Form 740, although the vast majority of filings are made electronically 
through an importation filing system – the Automated Commercial System (ACS) – administered by 
CBP.  In explaining the basis for the waiver, the Commission observed that CBP is transitioning to a new 
electronic filing system, called the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), which will ultimately 
replace ACS.
2
  Because the information associated with FCC Form 740 has not been accommodated in 
this new system, the discontinuation of ACS would result in a significant increase in paper-based filings 
and would create significant burdens for importers and the agencies involved.  The Commission was and 
is in the process of considering eliminating the Form 740 information requirement, and determined to 
waive the requirement as of July 1, 2016 (the date that CBP has indicated it will shut down ACS and no 
longer be able to electronically collect this information), while the Commission considers whether to 
maintain, modify, or eliminate its requirement.
3
The Commission’s characterization in the Order of CBP’s ACS as the current system used for 
filing Form 740 information has been misinterpreted by some affected parties.  To file FCC data in ACS, 
filers use the ACE-Entry Summary to submit the FCC-required information electronically into the ACS 
platform. The use of the ACE-Entry Summary for filing FCC-required information does not result in the 
FCC data being filed in the ACE system; when a filer enters this information via the ACE-Entry 
Summary, the information is directed to and placed in the ACS system.
Some parties have erroneously inferred from the Order’s discussion of ACE’s technical 
limitations in accommodating the filing of FCC Form 740 information that the Commission was 
prohibiting the filing of this information in CBP’s old system (ACS) if it entailed use of the ACE-Entry 
                                                     
1
Amendment of Parts 0, 1, 2, 15 and 18 of the Commission’s Rules regarding Authorization of 
Radiofrequency Equipment, Order, 30 FCC Rcd 11827 (2015) (Order). 
2
Order at 1.  See also http://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/. 
3
The Order recognized that the July date could be rendered moot if the Commission takes further action 
in the docket.
2Summary.  In fact, the Commission did not establish any prohibitions regarding the use of the ACE; the 
Order simply observed that the ACE system does not have the technical capability to accept FCC Form 
740 information.  Moreover, the details of the process for accessing the systems, including whether a filer 
would use the ACE-Entry Summary to make the required filing in the ACS, were not relevant.  The 
Commission’s Order only discussed use of the two systems in general terms, with the focus on the fact 
that, as a technical matter, FCC Form 740 information could be filed electronically in ACS but not in the 
ACE system.  And what the Order established as a result is clear:  Form 740 filings would continue to be 
required until July 1, 2016, filers could continue to file the Form electronically before that date in the 
ACS (regardless of what steps CBP’s processes required for placing the Form 740 information into the 
ACS), and as of July 1, 2016, any obligation to file the Form would be suspended and the requirement 
waived until December 31, 2016.
For further information regarding this matter, contact Jamison Prime at (202) 418-7474, e-mail 
jamison.prime@fcc.gov.
-FCC-