Details of CBP's FY 2010 Financial Report on its Costs & Collections

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its fiscal year 2010 Annual Financial Report, presenting financial information on its costs of operation and revenues to enable Congress and the public to assess CBP's performance in preventing the entry of dangerous people and goods in the U.S. and facilitating lawful trade and travel.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 04/21/11 news, 11042106, for BP summary announcing the availability of this report.)

The following are highlights of CBP's costs and revenue for FY 2010 and FY 2009:

CBP’s Cost of Operating its Programs

According to the report, border security inspections and trade facilitation at ports of entry accounted for most of CBP's costs of operation¹, (55% and 56% for FY 2010 and 2009, respectively), followed by border security and control between ports of entry (37% and 35%), followed by air and marine operations (5% for both years), automation modernization (2% and 3%,), and border security fencing, infrastructure and technology (1%).

The following table presents CBP's net operating costs for FY 2010 and 2009 (in thousands of dollars):

CBP’s Revenue from Cash Collections

Both in 2009 and 2010, duties consisted of 86% of CBP's cash collections, user fees 4%, excise taxes 10%, with fines and penalties, interest, and miscellaneous consisting of less than 1%. The following are the cash collections² for FY 2010 and 2009 (in thousands of dollars):

CBP Refund and Drawback Disbursements

Refunds and drawback disbursements totaled $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion (rounded up) for fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 and 2009. The following are amounts of cash disbursements for entry years 2010 and 2009 (in thousands of dollars):

Antidumping and countervailing duty refunds (included in total refunds presented above) and associated interest refunded for FY ended September 30, 2010 and 2009 consisted of the following (in thousands of dollars)

Additional FY 2010 Statistical Highlights

The following are additional statistical highlights of CBP's activities during FY 2010 (partial list):

• Trade entries processed: 28 million
• Illegal narcotics seized: 2.7 million pounds
• Conveyances processed: over 105 million
• Prohibited plant and animal materials seized at the ports of entry: 1,707,876
• Agricultural plant and pest intercepted at the ports of entry: 196,815

¹Note that CBP is funded through an appropriation and that its operation costs will not match all of its duty, tax and fee revenues, which are not available for CBP operations and are not reported on its consolidated statement of net cost. Likewise, the refunds of overpayments are not available for use by CBP in its operations.

²Revenue from duties, taxes, and fees collected by CBP are remitted to various General Fund accounts which the Treasury Department distributes to other federal agencies in accordance with various laws and regulations. Refunds of revenues collected from import/export activities are recorded in separate accounts established for this purpose and are funded through permanent indefinite appropriations. These activities reflect the nonentity, or custodial, responsibilities that CBP has been authorized by law to enforce.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 04/14/11, 04/15/11, 04/18/11, 04/20/11, and 04/21/11 news, 11041401, 11041522, 11041823, 11041928, and 11042133, for BP summaries of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General report finding that CBP's FY 2010 financial controls are weak.)