Index: src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/impl/AccessControlHandling.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/impl/AccessControlHandling.java	(nonexistent)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/impl/AccessControlHandling.java	(working copy)
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.jackrabbit.filevault.maven.packaging.impl;
+
+/**
+ * <code>AccessControlHandling</code> defines the behavior when importing
+ * access control nodes.
+ */
+public enum AccessControlHandling {
+
+    /**
+     * Ignores the packaged access control and leaves the target unchanged.
+     */
+    IGNORE,
+
+    /**
+     * Applies the access control provided with the package to the target. this
+     * also removes existing access control.
+     */
+    OVERWRITE,
+
+    /**
+     * Merge access control provided with the package with the one in the
+     * content by replacing the access control entries of corresponding
+     * principals (i.e. package first). It never alters access control entries
+     * of principals not present in the package.
+     * <p/>
+     * Example:<br/>
+     *
+     * Content ACL:
+     * <pre>
+     *     everyone, deny, jcr:all
+     *     bob, allow, jcr:read
+     *     bob, allow, jcr:write
+     * </pre>
+     *
+     * Package ACL:
+     * <pre>
+     *     bob, deny, jcr:all
+     *     alice, allow, jcr:read
+     * </pre>
+     *
+     * Result ACL:
+     * <pre>
+     *     everyone, deny, jcr:all
+     *     bob, deny, jcr:all
+     *     alice, allow, jcr:read
+     * </pre>
+     */
+    MERGE,
+
+    /**
+     * Merge access control in the content with the one provided with the
+     * package by adding the access control entries of principals not present in the
+     * content (i.e. content first). It never alters access control entries already
+     * existing in the content.
+     *
+     * <p/>
+     * Example:<br/>
+     *
+     * Content ACL:
+     * <pre>
+     *     everyone, deny, jcr:all
+     *     bob, allow, jcr:read
+     *     bob, allow, jcr:write
+     * </pre>
+     *
+     * Package ACL:
+     * <pre>
+     *     bob, deny, jcr:all
+     *     alice, allow, jcr:read
+     * </pre>
+     *
+     * Result ACL:
+     * <pre>
+     *     everyone, deny, jcr:all
+     *     bob, allow, jcr:read
+     *     bob, allow, jcr:write
+     *     alice, allow, jcr:read
+     * </pre>
+     */
+    MERGE_PRESERVE,
+
+    /**
+     * Clears all access control on the target system.
+     */
+    CLEAR,
+
+}

Property changes on: src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/impl/AccessControlHandling.java
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Index: src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/VaultMojo.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/VaultMojo.java	(revision 1816417)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/filevault/maven/packaging/VaultMojo.java	(working copy)
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 
 import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.filevault.maven.packaging.impl.AccessControlHandling;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.filevault.maven.packaging.impl.DefaultWorkspaceFilter;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.filevault.maven.packaging.impl.PackageType;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.filevault.maven.packaging.impl.PathFilterSet;
@@ -248,6 +249,43 @@
     private boolean allowIndexDefinitions;
 
     /**
+     * Defines the AC handling. This will become the
+     * {@code acHandling} property of the properties.xml file.<br/>
+     * Possible values:
+     * <ul>
+     * <li><code>ignore</code>: Ignores the packaged access control and leaves the target unchanged.</li>
+     * <li><code>overwrite</code>: Applies the access control provided with the package to the target. this also removes
+     * existing access control.</li>
+     * <li><code>merge</code>: Merge access control provided with the package with the one in the content by replacing the
+     * access control entries of corresponding principals (i.e. package first). It never alters access control entries of
+     * principals not present in the package.</li>
+     * <li><code>merge_preserve</code>: Merge access control in the content with the one provided with the package by
+     * adding the access control entries of principals not present in the content (i.e. content first). It never alters
+     * access control entries already existing in the content.</li>
+     * <li><code>clear</code>: Clears all access control on the target system.</li>
+     * </ul>
+     */
+    @Parameter(
+            property = "vault.acHandling",
+            required = false)
+    private AccessControlHandling acHandling;
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the AC handling.
+     * @param type the string representation of the ac handling
+     * @throws MojoFailureException if an error occurrs
+     */
+    public void setAcHandling(String type) throws MojoFailureException {
+        try {
+            acHandling = AccessControlHandling.valueOf(type.toUpperCase());
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            throw new MojoFailureException("Invalid acHandling specified: " + type +".\n" +
+                    "Must be empty or one of '" + StringUtils.join(AccessControlHandling.values(), "','") + "'.");
+        }
+
+    }
+    
+    /**
      * Controls if errors during dependency validation should fail the build.
      */
     @Parameter(
@@ -383,6 +421,7 @@
      * <tr><td>allowIndexDefinitions</td><td>Use <i>allowIndexDefinitions</i> parameter to set</td></tr>
      * <tr><td>packagePath</td><td>Automatically generated from the group and package name</td></tr>
      * <tr><td>packageType</td><td>Set via the package type parameter</td></tr>
+     * <tr><td>acHandling</td><td>Use <i>acHandling</i> parameter to set</td></tr>
      * </table>
      */
     @Parameter
@@ -836,6 +875,9 @@
         props.put("requiresRoot", String.valueOf(requiresRoot));
         props.put("allowIndexDefinitions", String.valueOf(allowIndexDefinitions));
         props.put("packageType", packageType.name().toLowerCase());
+        if (acHandling != null) {
+            props.put("acHandling", acHandling.name().toLowerCase());
+        }
         return props;
     }