During a recent speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Basham discussed a variety of cargo security issues including Container Security Devices (CSDs)1, 10+2 for maritime cargo, the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI), 100% container scanningat foreign ports, and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program.
On June 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2638, the fiscal year (FY) 2008 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, affecting U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, etc.
American Shipper reports that the U.S. and the European Union hope to conclude a mutual recognition agreement by mid-2009 of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and the EU's Authorized Economic Operator program to allow reciprocal faster customs clearance. The article notes that while progress toward mutual recognition has been made, C-TPAT's lack of inclusion of exports remains a difficulty. (American Shipper, dated 12/14/07, www.americanshipper.com)
In a fact sheet highlighting the outcomes of the 3rd U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, the Treasury Department states that on December 13-14, 2007, Chinese Customs and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials were scheduled to hold technical discussions to agree on the joint validation procedure of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) pilot project in China. Treasury further states that joint validations are expected to begin in early January 2008, led by China Customs and with technical input provided by CBP. (See today's ITT, 07122115, for BP summary of Treasury's fact sheet on the outcomes of the 3rd SED. (Fact Sheet, hp-732, dated 12/13/07, available at http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp732.htm.)
The Treasury Department1 has issued a fact sheet summarizing the multiple memoranda of understanding and other results of the third U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED)2 held in Beijing, China on December 12-13, 2007.
The World Customs Organization's1 Policy Commission and the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG)2 have issued a joint resolution: (1) opposing the U.S. requirement for 100% scanning of maritime cargo containers at foreign ports prior to loading by 2012,3 (2) urging Congress to reconsider the requirement, and (3) recommending that Congress support the WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE Framework).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a Request for Information (RFI), technical requirements, and other documents for conveyance security devices (CSDs, commonly referred to as container security devices).
The U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel has issued a Textile Development Memo on the House of Representatives' passage of H.R. 3890, the Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2007 on December 11, 2007. H.R. 3890 would impose import sanctions on certain Burmese gemstones, revoke the termination of Generalized System of Preferences duty-free benefits for certain Indian and Thai gold jewelry, etc. See future issue of ITT for additional details on H.R. 3890.(USA-ITA TDM dated 12/12/07, www.usaita.com.)
In November 2007 CBP posted a notice to its Web site announcing that it will be holding a Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism supply chain security training seminar on February 26-29, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
American Shipper reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner Jayson Ahern stated that container security device applications are being looked at for cross-border truck traffic from Mexico, in-bond movements, the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI), and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. (AS, dated 12/07/07, www.americanshipper.com)