On April 1, 2009, the House Appropriations Committee's Homeland Security Subcommittee held a hearing on cargo and container security. Among those testifying at the hearing was Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ahern. The following are highlights of the prepared statement of Acting CBP Commissioner Ahern:
At a recent teleconference, Brad Skinner, the director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, gave an update on C-TPAT. Highlights of his comments are as follows:
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Lieberman announced his homeland security budget priorities in his annual letter to the Senate Budget Committee.
Canada Border Services Agency has posted "Cargo Sealing Guidelines for PIP Members" which provides guidelines for Partners in Protection (PIP) members on the use of high-security mechanical seals on containers and trailers for imported, exported and in-transit cargo.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the comments of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) on CBP's Trade Strategy for fiscal years 2009-2013.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2008.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an abridged external partner version of the U.S.-European Union roadmap towards Mutual Recognition1 of trade partnership programs (CBP's C-TPAT and EU's AEO).
Transportation Security Administration officials at a recent Washington Air Cargo Association meeting discussed the mandate of 50% screening1 of cargo on passenger aircraft by February 2009 and 100% screening of such cargo by August 2010.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted its 2008 "year in review" for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program.
CBP has issued a CSMS message on the implementation of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after February 1, 2009. Importers and brokers may file claims for preferential tariff treatment on goods that originate under the PTPA. These claims may be made at the time of entry summary by placing the SPI "PE" on the CBP Form 7501 as a prefix to the HTS item number for each line on which preferential treatment is claimed. The programming updates to the ACS allowing for automated processing have not yet been completed. Therefore, until further notice, importers claiming preference under the PTPA should file manual entries or file ABI entries at release with manual entry summaries. (See ITT's Online Archives or 02/02/09 news, 09020210, for BP summary of Proclamation 8341, which amended the HTS to implement the PTPA, etc.)(CSMS 09-000070, dated 01/30/09, available at http://apps.cbp.gov/csms/viewmssg.asp?Recid=17456&page=&srch_argv=09-000070&srchtype=all&btype=&sortby=&sby)