The February 15 meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) addressed a number of trade and security issues. Highlights of
the proceedings are as follows. C-TPAT
CBP officials continued to press for input from the trade community on the benefits that should be associated with participation in the Customs-Trade
Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), particularly in light of the tougher criteria CBP is currently developing for the program. The agency has made a stronger effort in recent months to enumerate the specific
benefits that importers are already receiving through C-TPAT participation, such as fewer security and compliance exams. However, with the trade community continuing to press for tangible benefits, particularly relating
to expedited commercial operations, CBP seems to be casting a wider net. For example, C-TPAT importers could receive head-of-the-line treatment during secondary exams, mitigation of certain penalties, or expedited
rulings. Other possibilities include benefits from other government agencies (e.g., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which committee members said has at least some jurisdiction over nearly 33 per cent of all U.S.
imports) or tax breaks.
Contingency Planning
COAC members expressed concern about the state of efforts to develop a plan for restoring trade flows if ports are shut down in response to a
terrorist incident. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said last month that they have only recently begun to focus on such contingency planning, but the committee said it is already worried that this
process is going awry. For example, there appears to be no single, coordinated government effort thus far, only various discussions. In addition, current efforts are focused on the maritime environment, to the virtual
exclusion of air, truck, and rail shipments. Importers also want to know what the priority of entry of goods will be as trade is re-opened after an incident. CBP officials responded that C-TPAT membership is likely to
be one factor in such decisions.
Textiles and Apparel
With most textile and apparel quotas now eliminated, importers said they want CBP to conditionally release shipments of such goods without
the submission of paper documents. However, they added, CBP does not seem to be moving in that direction, in part due to an apparent desire to continue receiving paper textile country of origin declarations for
enforcement purposes.
A CBP official responded that the agency is working with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) to eliminate the paper declaration requirement within the next
several months. The official added that CBP is already allowing some paperless entries for non-quota/non-visa goods, and that more are likely in the near future once remaining 2004 overshipments are resolved.
Confidentiality
COAC members said that CBP's regulations on confidentiality need to be updated to allow customs brokers to share certain information about their clients with affiliated companies or
third-party service providers. A subcommittee was formed specifically to work with CBP toward this goal.
