In February 15, 2012 testimony before Congress on the Administration's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget for the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano stated that DHS' trade-related budget priorities include expanding CSI, funding a CBP-private sector IPR partnership program, adding Industry Integration Centers (CEEs), and updating certain facilities on the southern border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted its draft agenda and 22 other documents for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on February 21, 2012, which include presentations, draft recommendations, and other documents on the role of the Broker, Simplified Entry, Bonds, the Global Supply Chain, and other topics.
On February 13, 2012, the President submitted to Congress his fiscal year 2013 budget proposal. According to the Office of Management and Budget, his FY 2013 budget proposes cuts and consolidations across the Federal government and includes more than $7.5 billion in administrative savings. The following are highlights from the President's budget proposal and annex, a DHS budget document, and other agency information.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the following documents on its "What's New" webpage regarding the C-TPAT and FAST programs (note that many of these documents have prior dates and appear to simply be reposted):
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has advised C-TPAT partners that effective March 1, 2012, the current International Organization for Standardization mechanical seal standard (ISO/PAS 17712) will be replaced with a new ISO standard -- ISO 17712:2010. CBP states companies are not expected to discard seals currently in stock. However, after companies have exhausted their current stock of high security seals, the agency recommends that companies purchase seals which are compliant with the new ISO standard.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted amended recommendations of COAC’s Global Supply Chain Security Land Border Subcommittee. The amended recommendations largely ask CBP to obtain input from affected stakeholders.
On January 26, 2012, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance Michael Camuñez discussed efforts to increase trade between the U.S. and Mexico, including some of the progress made to date on implementing the two country's May 2010 Joint Declaration on 21st Century Border Management.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the "final" facilitation recommendations of COAC's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Subcommittee. The final recommendations are the same as the “draft” recommendations posted in December 2011 in all respects but one; they newly suggest that a program to allow legitimate importers to voluntarily transmit an IPR indicator to CBP in the cargo release data set that links to a robust database should be explored in a working pilot. According to the Subcommittee, a valid IPR indicator would lower the IPR risk assessment for that shipment, segmenting risk for CBP and speeding release for the importer. COAC’s draft recommendations discussed such a program, but did not recommend a pilot.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on February 21, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Topics to be discussed at the meeting include Air Cargo Advance Screening, the one government at the border initiative, and IPR enforcement. There will be comment opportunities before and during the meeting. The registration deadline to attend or listen to the webcast of the meeting is February 17.
In a January 26, 2012 posting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection states it is currently spearheading two projects to modernize the role of the broker: (1) Broker Pre-Certification and (2) Broker Regulation Redesign. The key concepts of this initiative are to leverage broker relationships to extend the opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to be recognized as trusted partners, while also allowing for established “best practices” within the industry.