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Top Story
The following story is from the August 13 issue of International
Trade Reporter
Current Reports:
Customs
Sens. Baucus, Grassley Introduce Legislation
To Reauthorize, Strengthen Customs Agencies
Sens. Max S. Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) Aug. 6 introduced legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the customs facilitation and trade enforcement operations of the agencies in the Department of Homeland Security responsible for customs, border protection, and immigration.
Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said that the agencies—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—have not been focusing sufficient resources on their trade missions, “and this bill would direct them to do so.”
“It would give these agencies the resources and tools they need to better enforce our customs and trade laws so legitimate goods enter our country quickly, and harmful goods or goods that infringe intellectual property rights stay out,” Baucus said.
The legislation, in particular, would establish and fully authorize CBP and ICE, which currently exist only as a function of discretionary authority under the Homeland Security Act, according to a committee staff summary of the bill.
Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, said that the legislation—the Customs Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2009 (S. 1631)—reflects the work of the Finance Committee in overseeing the commercial operations of DHS and the Treasury Department.
“The Customs and Border Protection and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies do important work,”
Grassley said. “This legislation will help them to accomplish their commercial missions by strengthening the accountability and prioritization of commercial customs functions, even as they continue to protect homeland security. I look forward to working with the chairman to move this legislation through the Senate this year.”
New Trade Posts Created
The committee staff summary of the legislation says that the bill would create a number of new high-level positions, including a principal deputy commissioner and an assistant commissioner of trade, devoted exclusively to CBP's customs facilitation and trade enforcement efforts.
It would also require CBP and ICE to coordinate their work with other federal agencies to enforce U.S. trade laws at the borders and to prevent unsafe goods from entering the United States.
The legislation, furthermore, would direct CBP to provide additional trade benefits to participants in voluntary trade compliance and supply chain security programs as a way to help facilitate the flow of legitimate goods across U.S. borders. The bill also would authorize additional funding for the Automated Commercial Environment and International Trade Data System.
Among other things, the legislation would also require CBP and ICE to prepare a biennial Joint Strategic Plan outlining their plans to improve customs-related trade enforcement and would direct CBP to develop risk assessment methodologies to better target cargo that may violate U.S. customs and trade laws, while facilitating legitimate trade. The bill also would establish an interagency Import Safety Working Group to ensure the safety of U.S. imports. And it would expand existing law to prohibit the importation of goods made with forced, convict, or indentured labor.
By Gary G. Yerkey
The Senate Finance Committee statement and staff summary can be found at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb080609.pdf
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