Details of Import Safety MOU to Provide 5 Agencies with ATS, ACS & ACE Data

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has provided further details of the Memorandum of Understanding between five federal agencies signed in October 2010 to improve targeting and enforcement efforts at CBP's Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC).

CBP has also posted Commissioner Bersin's prepared remarks from the October 21, 2010 Interagency Import Safety Conference on import safety where the MOU was first announced.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 10/22/10 news, 10102210, for initial BP summary.)

CPSC, APHIS, FSIS & ICE to Have Access to CBP’s Targeting Tools at CTAC

The MOU provides the five partner agencies with access to CBP targeting tools at the CTAC, including the: Automated Targeting System (ATS), Automated Commercial System (ACS), Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), and Traveler Enforcement Compliance System (TECS). It also provides an avenue through which participating agency data systems’ access and targeting tools can be shared among present agencies.

Signatories to the MOU include the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS); U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and CBP.

Other Agencies Reviewing MOU for Possible Participation

CBP states that several other federal agencies are currently reviewing the MOU and have expressed significant interest in participating in this interagency initiative.

CTAC Created a Year Ago to Facilitate Info Sharing, Reduce Redundancies

Commissioner Bersin explains that CTAC was established about a year ago to streamline and enhance federal efforts to address import safety issues. At the CTAC, multiple agencies with import safety authorities are sharing targeting tools, resources, data and expertise to accomplish the common mission of protecting U.S. consumers from harmful goods, while simultaneously facilitating the flow of legitimate trade by reducing the redundancy of inspection activities among agencies with overlapping authorities.

While much progress has been made on import safety in the past several years, import safety agencies recognize the need for them to work together through jurisdictional issues when situations arise involving potentially unsafe goods among agencies with overlapping authorities.

CTAC Agencies Hope to Improve Interagency Targeting in Coming Year

Commissioner Bersin states that in the coming year, participating agencies will work within the parameters of the CTAC to provide improved interagency targeting. This will involve sharing of data and targeting systems access, identifying training opportunities, and improving targeting capabilities through multi-agency risk modeling.