CBP Modernization of Import Processing, Revenue Collections Among Agency 2014 Priorities

CBP has hopes for modernization on several fronts, including for automation of import and export processing and revenue collection, for this year and the coming years, said agency officials during a panel at the East Coast Trade Symposium March 7. The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and related International Trade Data System continue to be a linchpin in CBP's modernization efforts, they said. The role of the CBP import specialist will be changing in coming years as work toward modernization moves forward, said Acting CBP Commissioner Thomas Winkowski.

While automation through ACE is the main focus for the Office on International Trade, it will be important for the system to be flexible, said Acting Assistant Commissioner Rich DiNucci. Automation in general is “great,” but it is the ability to make available commonly used processes within that automation that is important, he said. That's also true of efforts to redesign the Automated Export System (AES), the number two priority for DiNucci's office, he said. The CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) recently identified a number of “unknowns” to keep in mind as the agency works with industry to redesign AES (see 14022103). That's of great help because figuring out those unknowns can often be a significant roadblock when trying to update processes, he said. The next focus for CBP will be on enforcement to protect the domestic industry, whether from intellectual property right violations or other issues, he said. Compliance and enforcement are issues that go hand in hand and compliance is often a cooperative effort between CBP and industry, he said.

It will also be important for CBP to have a “knowledge based workforce,” said DiNucci. A CBP understanding of how business operates will be necessary to make sure that future regulations and rulings are made without hurting business processes, he said.

CBP is also looking to modernize its collection of fees, Assistant Commissioner Eugene Schied of the Office of Administration. The agency collects about 88 percent of the $42 billion it collects yearly electronically, which leaves billions of dollars that are collected in cash or checks, often in very small amounts that still require work by CBP employees, he said. ACE will help in moving toward better fee processing, but the agency is taking a broad look as to how it can make fee processing more efficient, he said.

It will be important for CBP to make the case to Congress that it is making itself more efficient, said Winkowski. For instance, with the Centers of Excellence and Expertise playing a bigger part in the future, the “role of import specialist will not be same next year, or year after that,” he said. Finding consensus on a revamped antidumping/countervailing duty regime continues to be a “tough nut,” said Winkowski. There's been some longtime discussion for making AD/CVD prospective, rather than retrospective, and CBP will continue to consider various options to improve the agency's ability to collect the duties.