During the November 4, 2009 Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) meeting, CBP and Transportation Security Administration officials and the COAC Air Cargo Security Subcommittee discussed developments regarding air cargo security.
The Transportation Security Administration is requesting comments on the renewal of its information collection regarding the Certified Cargo Screening Program, which, effective November 16, 2009, moved from the pilot stage to a permanent program1 that allows shippers to screen their cargo before it is tendered to aircraft operators for transport on passenger aircraft.
At the American Conference Institute's recent conference on Import Compliance and Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials gave a presentation entitled "Single Issue Audits and Focused Assessments: How Audit Programs are Evolving and What You Need to Know to Prepare."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message stating that it is still accepting registration for Importer Security Filing progress reports (aka performance report cards).
On October 22, 2009, a House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee1 held a hearing entitled "Cargo Security at Land Ports of Entry: Are We Meeting the Challenge?"
CBP has posted the minutes from the October 13, 2009 COAC Air Cargo Subcommittee teleconference. During the meeting, the attendees provided a review of the matrix, development of recommendations, and a timeline and next steps.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of COAC's1 Air Cargo Security Subcommittee draft matrix which will be used to identify areas of possible redundancy and/or areas that could be leveraged to improve and streamline domestic and international air cargo security.
The Senate Finance Committee has announced that it will be holding an October 20, 2009 hearing on S. 1631, the Customs Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 20091.
CBP has posted a document providing guidelines that should be followed for members of the trade experiencing problems displaying the C-TPAT Security Link Web Portal. (Document, posted 10/06/09, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/cargo_security/ctpat/ctpat_members/implement_portal/ctpat_connectivity.ctt/ctpat_connectivity.doc)