ITDS Executive Order Marks 'Important Step Forward,' Says Winkowski

CBP sees President Barack Obama's Feb. 19 executive order calling for the completion of the International Trade Data System (ITDS) by 2016 (see 14021928) as a "very important step forward," said Acting Commissioner Tom Winkowski while talking with reporters before the Feb. 20 Advisory Committee on the Commercial Operations of CBP (COAC) meeting. "It will eliminate the need for paperwork" and result in lowered transaction costs, he said. The order, which took about a year to get through the lengthy review process, "really sets the tone and puts a spotlight, if you will, on the importance of trade," said Winkowski. "We've got to get this up and running," he said.

The Treasury Department was also encouraged by the order. “Treasury looks forward to continuing to work with the many agencies involved in ITDS to implement this Executive Order,” said Timothy Skud, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department and ITDS Chair, in an emailed statement. “The International Trade Data System’s single window will play a critical role in facilitating trade, reducing costs for business, and enabling agencies to work more efficiently.”

The executive order grew out of the National Strategy for Supply Chain Security, said Brenda Smith, executive director for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) business at CBP. CBP made clear to the National Security Staff working on the strategy that the "interagency collaboration needed some support," she said. "One of the things the NSS looked to do as a part of the development process was to bring those agencies to the table, which they did very actively" to help draft the executive order and increase the comfort level with the idea of the Border Interagency Council (BIEC), she said. "I think we are now at the point where the interagency group is comfortable and we are ready to go." The 2013 update to the strategy (see 13030617), a combined effort between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and National Security Staff, pointed to the need for data sharing through ITDS.

The executive order gives some further clarity as to the importance of ITDS completion, said Winkowski. "The president signed an order," he said. "Government agencies listen to those orders." This will also push intergovernmental movement on memorandums of understanding (MOUs), which are required as a result of privacy laws that require certain protections for the sharing of information, he said. "We have some agencies that we have MOUs with, some are pretty close to being done, and then we have another group that they're going to have to get started here," he said. CBP has finished a total of 12 such MOUs, the ITDS board said in its recently released FY 2013 report (see 14012923). Problems in moving forward on MOUs mostly involves finding agreement among lawyers that are locked up regulatory language disagreements and the order will help by bringing focus to the issue, a Treasury Department official said. .

Also important is the codification of the BIEC, said Ellen McClain, a deputy assistant secretary in the DHS while speaking during the COAC meeting. The BIEC has a "lot of work to do" but if the council can realign some of the processes, the decision making and bring together the 47 agencies involved, that will make for real progress on the ITDS. Only if the agencies work toward together toward a risk-based approach will the trade community see the results they've been looking for, like efficiency, cost effectiveness, and reduced wait times for release and clearance decisions, said McLain. "Otherwise, it's just a lot of information comes in, a lot of information comes out." The clear demonstration of "political will" will have a "significant impact" on ITDS, she said.

The executive order requirement for the agencies to undergo regulatory reviews to figure out if regulatory changes are needed has multiple purposes, said the Treasury Department official. The first aspect of the review will look at if there are regulations specifically calling for paper filings, rather than electronic filings, the official said. The review will also consider useful process reforms, for instance, whether an agency’s unique information requirement is still necessary if it will have electronic access to CBP’s data, said the official. While there’s been discussion over the possibility of necessary agency-specific statutory changes, at least currently, there is not an expectation that additional legislation will be necessary in order to implement ITDS, the official said. While, ITDS is statutorily required to be implemented “not later than the date” ACE is “fully implemented,” the difference in the timelines -- ACE will be required as of Oct. 1, 2016 and ITDS is now required to be completed by Dec. 31, 2016 -- is not expected to be an issue, said the official.