CBP Discusses Brokers' Role in CEEs

The CBP Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs) will serve as a resource of information to everyone in the trade community, from large importers down to customs brokers that aren't frequently interacting with the centers, said CBP officials during a Oct. 11 Webinar. The Webinar was part of an ongoing CBP outreach effort on its update to broker regulations in 19 CFR Part 111, though its focus on the CEEs isn't directly related to the update on broker regulations. The CEEs, which offer industry-dedicated, virtual locations for entry summary review, are currently in a pilot phase

Small importers that may only do one or two shipments a year won't have a managed CEE account like bigger importers will, said Elena Ryan, director of trade facilitation and administration at CBP. The smaller importers and their brokers will still be able to interact with the CEE as the larger ones do, but simply won't need the CEE services as often, she said.

There have been a number of questions about how to know if an importer is in the CEE pilot and CBP is encouraging CEE participants to "bring their broker along," but it is up to the importer to communicate its participation within the pilot, said Lori Whitehurst, CEE program manager in the office of field operations. The centers also have unique team identifiers, so if there's any "docs required" messages returned, it will include the team code, indicating the involvement with a CEE, said Whitehurst.

(See ITT's Online Archives 12100938 for a look at hopes and concerns for the CEEs among brokers, importers and customs lawyers.)

The centers will help expand the knowledge base of CBP, said Tom Overacker, CEE program manager in the CBP Office of International Trade. The agency is already the expert on customs law, valuation, classification and free trade agreements, but aren't close enough to the trade community to say they are experts in business practices, he said. The revenue collections will continue to be at the ports of entry, while the centers will be responsible for summary reviews, validation activities, review of protests and prior disclosures, said Overacker.

The CEEs will also help CBP improve enforcement by allowing it to focus on problem areas within industry sectors, it said. Most of the expected changes were listed in the recent announcement of pilot announcement giving the CEE directors authority over several functions now done through port directors. While there are now nine CEEs planned, CBP will be watching closely to see any others are necessary, said Overacker.

(See ITT's Online Archives 12082733 for summary of the pilot. See ITT's Online Archives 12090421 for a list of CEE summary procedures.)

Goals for CEEs:

• Facilitate legitimate trade through effective risk segmentation
  • Utilize account based methods to process trade
  • Expand partnerships - move more importers to trusted trader status
  • Develop and implement comprehensive strategies to manage risk
• Increase industry-based knowledge within CBP
  • Advance bi-directional education to raise industry knowledge
  • Engage industry groups and key stakeholders
  • Bring all of CBP’s expertise to bear on a single industry in a virtual environment
• Enhance enforcement and address industry risks
  • Leverage industry to identify issues of mutual interest to provide CBP with targeting, enforcement, and/or intelligence information -- Trade Intelligence
  • Coordinate enforcement efforts by industry to address unique risks

(Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the CBP presentation.)