DEA Added New ACE Data Requirement for Tableting and Encapsulating Machines
CBP title: An updated U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Implementation Guide is now available with a new section providing guidance on submitting PGA Message Set data for tableting and encapsulating machines
This message is from January 14, 2026. Later CSMS messages may have changed it. See the latest trade news
What did CBP announce?
CBP announced that DEA updated its ACE Partner Government Agency (PGA) Implementation Guide to require machine data for tableting and encapsulating machines. The guide set a rollout schedule: certification environment on January 20, 2026, production deployment with a WARNING-level DE3 flag on March 21, 2026, and REJECT-level enforcement of that flag on May 2, 2026. This affected importers of these machines and the brokers who file their entries.
What is Allied's position?
This message set a phased requirement for DEA data on tableting and encapsulating machine imports, ending in REJECT-level enforcement by May 2, 2026 under the schedule CBP published. Clients who import these machines should ask us to confirm their entries include the required DEA PGA Message Set data (the DE3 flag) so filings are not rejected. Because this message is more than eight months old, later CSMS messages may have updated the related reference documents, so we recommend clients confirm current requirements with us before shipping.
General information, not legal advice.
What does the CBP message say?
An updated U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Implementation Guide (IG) is now available and can be found in the ‘Draft Chapters: Future Capabilities’ section of CBP.gov: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/automated/catair
The DEA IG was updated to provide guidance on submitting PGA Message Set data when importing tableting and encapsulating machines. This is a new message set requirement, as DEA will begin requiring machine data to be submitted via Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) PGA Message Set per the following schedule:
- January 20, 2026 – Deploy to Certification Environment.
- March 21, 2026 – Deploy to Production and enforce new DE3 flag with a WARNING severity.
- May 2, 2026 – Enforce DE3 flag with a REJECT severity.
CBP will publish updates to associated documents such as the ACE Agency Tariff Code Reference Guide document to add the new DE3 flag and the Appendix PGA to add a new DEA agency program code = MAC (machines). A separate CSMS will be sent when those documents are available.
For any questions about the DEA IG, please contact DEA at: DRI@dea.gov (mailto:DRI@dea.gov)
For any questions about this CSMS, please contact: CREM@cbp.dhs.gov (mailto:CREM@cbp.dhs.gov)