CBP Commissioner Testifies Before House Appropriations Committee on CBP's FY 2008 Budget Request

In the written testimony, Commissioner Basham discussed some of CBP's accomplishments in FY 2007, as well as CBP's future plans. The following are highlights of the CBP Commissioner's written testimony:

10+2 Proposal. A provision in the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act) requires the electronic transmission of additional data elements for improved high-risk targeting. Working with the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC)¹, CBP has proposed a new security filing (SF, commonly referred to as CBP's 10+2 proposal) to ensure compliance with the Act's provisions and enhance its ability to perform risk-based targeting prior to cargo being laden on a vessel overseas. CBP is currently developing a proposed rule, which will be published in the Federal Register along with a request for comments. (See ITT's Online Archives or 02/13/07 news, 07021310, for BP summary of a FAQ on the 10+2 proposal which provides links to additional BP summaries on the proposal.)

SFI to be fully implemented in three ports, with limited capacity in 3-4 others. The Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) is an effort to build upon existing port security measures by enhancing the U.S. government's ability to scan containers for nuclear and radiological materials in seaports worldwide and to better assess the risk of inbound containers.

The initial phase of the initiative involves the deployment of radiation detection technology, radiography equipment, and optical character recognition equipment to conduct integrated scanning at participating ports. Fulfilling another SAFE Port Act mandate, this project will be fully implemented in the ports of Qasim, Pakistan; Cortes, Honduras; and, Southampton, U.K. with some limited capacity in four² additional ports. This increased information will help facilitate trade because questions about shipments that appear to be high risk can be resolved quickly and effectively.

The scanning project is a first step toward realizing a greater vision of Secure Freight, a fully integrated global network for risk assessment. The key elements of this network are real time imagery and radiation detection, together with a fusion center that receives and analyzes advanced trade data from numerous international supply chain sources. This Secure Freight concept envisions a private sector-based approach to obtaining information on global cargo movements, beyond currently regulated submissions.

Over 6,375 companies are C-TPAT certified, 3,916 have been validated, etc. As of February 2007, there are 6,375 companies certified into the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and 3,916 have been validated. To meet the requirements of the SAFE Port Act, CBP's goal is to validate all partners within one year of certification, revalidate all companies not less than once every three years. In addition, the Third Party Validator Pilot program is scheduled to begin shortly.

Consolidation of similar fees into one unified fee. CBP collects several fees from various sources including Immigration Inspection User Fees, Land Border Inspection Fees, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Inspection Fees, and Small Airport User Fees. These fees are available to fund specified operations of CBP. Many of these fees are charged for processing the same passengers, conveyances, and commodities. In the coming FY, CBP intends to propose to consolidate these fees so that each party is charged only once.

ACE expanding, highlights of accomplishments. Participation in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) continues to expand. ACE periodic monthly statement (PMS) receipts grew to $845 million in November 2006, representing 34.8% of total adjusted collections. Overall, there are more than 4,100 ACE Secure Data Portal accounts, and more than 4,500 corporate entities (based on Importer of Record Number) are approved to pay duties and fees monthly. Highlights of ACE accomplishments during 2006 includes (partial list):

Mandatory e-Manifests. To date, CBP has announced three groups of land border ports where truck carriers will be required to file e-Manifests for advance cargo information purposes. (See ITT's Online Archives or 02/26/07 news, 07022605, for BP summary announcing the third group of ports and links to BP summaries on the additional groups.)

ACE capabilities operational in all but three states. ACE truck processing capabilities are now operational in 78 land border ports, covering all states except for Maine, Minnesota and Alaska, which are expected to be completed by June 2007.

Deployed Targeting Framework (TF) capabilities. CBP is working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chief Information Officer (CIO) to achieve certification of the DHS Production Readiness Review (PRR). Due to critical homeland security capabilities included in TF, CBP completed the TF Operational Readiness Review (ORR) on October 26, 2006, and deployed TF to the National Targeting Center (NTC) on October 29, 2006.

ACE Exchange III was held in Dearborn, MI on October 30-November 1, 2006 and TSN conference held December 11-13, 2006

Number of Participating Government Agencies (PGAs) in the International Trade Data System (ITDS) has expanded to 30.

Initiated implementation planning for the SAFE Port Act. Collaboration is in progress between CBP and the ITDS Board of Directors to establish a plan for implementing the SAFE Port Act, which mandates participation in ITDS by all Federal agencies that require documentation for clearing or licensing the importation and exportation of cargo.

CBP's progress with regard to the SAFE Port Act. The following are highlights of CBP's progress to date on the SAFE Port Act requirements that have a direct impact on CBP:

Deployment of RPMs. The SAFE Port Act requires CBP, in coordination with the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), to deploy Radiation Portal Monitors (RPMs) to the top 22 seaports by the end of 2007. CBP is on track to meet this requirement and currently has deployed RPMs to 20 of the top 22 seaports.

CSI requirements. The SAFE Port Act sets forth various requirements for the Container Security Initiative (CSI) program. CBP has incorporated the additional requirements to improve the CSI program.

C-TPAT improvements. The SAFE Port Act requires various improvements and requirements for the C-TPAT program. CBP has incorporated the required changes and improvements such as lowering the Automated Targeting System (ATS) risk score for Tier One certified members, beginning a process to revalidate C-TPAT members once every 3 years, and beginning a Third Party Validator Pilot program.

¹ This committee was formerly known as the "Commercial Operations Advisory Committee".

² In his testimony, Commissioner Basham states that CBP will be going beyond its SAFE Port Act requirement by implementing, with some limited capacity, SFI in four additional ports; however, a DHS press release on Phase One of SFI stated that the program would only be going to three additional ports. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/20/06 news, 06122010, for BP summary of Phase One of SFI.)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/12/07 news, 07021210, for BP summary of the highlights of President Bush's FY 2008 budget request for CBP.)

CBP Commissioner Basham's statement (dated 02/27/07) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/commissioner/speeches_statements/comm_testify.ctt/comm_testify.doc