ITDS PILOT TEST PLANNED FOR BUFFALO, N.Y. IN OCTOBER

ITDS PILOT TEST PLANNED FOR BUFFALO, N.Y. IN OCTOBER    U.S. government agencies backing the proposed International Trade Data System say they’ll be ready to start testing the system in Buffalo, N.Y.in October.
   The concept of ITDS is to provide a single system for the industry to communicate trade data to the government. As many as 100 federal agencies have some need for this type of information.
   The Buffalo test of ITDS will involve four agencies: Customs, Transportation Department, Food and Drug Administration and Immigration and Naturalization Service.
   Laredo, Texas is expected to be the next ITDS test port. The Department of Agriculture will join the other four agencies in the test at this port, which is scheduled for early next year.
   ITDS development, which is based at Customs’ Office of Information and Technology, expects to roll out the system to 50 ports during the next six years, depending on funding, said Eugene Rosengarden, director of the Office of Tariff Affairs and Trade Agreements at the International Trade Commission and chairman of the ITDS board.