Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports that its criminal arrests on the Southwest Border have increased more than 17 percent through the first three quarters of Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, compared to the same period in FY 2008. In the nine months from Oct. 1, 2008 through June 29, 2009, ICE made 6,834 criminal arrests compared with 5,802 arrests during the same period last year. (News Release, dated 07/14/09, available at http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0907/090714washington.htm)
The Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Secure Freight Initiative, Richard DiNucci, provided an update on 10+2 during the July 7, 2009 National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America's Importer Security Filing webinar.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's New York/Newark Area Port has issued an Informational Pipeline stating that it will give Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism importers the benefit of expeditious completion of CBP-mandated cargo examinations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that Japan and the U.S. signed a mutual recognition arrangement that recognizes compatibility between the U.S.' Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Japan's Partners Authorized Economic Operators cargo security programs.
The Port of New York/Newark has issued an Informational Pipeline stating that containers consigned to a C-TPAT importer that are designated for drayage to a Centralized Examination Station (CES) for a CBP Enforcement, Trade, or Agriculture examination, will clearly be designated as "C-TPAT Priority," on the Permit to Transfer or CF3461 document faxed to the CES facility. The CES facility will in turn, dray to their facility, and present for examination, the C-TPAT Priority cargo before non-C-TPAT designated containerized cargo. (See future issue of ITT for details.) (Pipeline 09-016-NWK is available via email by sending a request to documents@brokerpower.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a notice announcing that the next customs broker license exam will be held on Monday, October 5, 2009.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted videos from its 2009 Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism supply chain security seminar for C-TPAT certified partners that was held on April 1-3, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will hold the first annual Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Northern Border Highway Carrier Conference on August 19, 2009 in Buffalo, NY.
CBP has issued a news release announcing that it is committed to the flexible and practical implementation of the June 1, 2009 document requirements for U.S. and Canadian citizens at land and sea ports of entry as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. CBP has also posted a WHTI land/sea factsheet. (News release, dated 05/27/09, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/05272009_7.xml)
During the May 6, 2009 Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) meeting, COAC adopted a white paper on Account Based Processing (which would include what is currently known as Account Management).