CBP Lawyer Seeks to Simplify Mobile Use of Agency Website

Using CBP’s website on a mobile device to find rules-of-origin information does not make for an easy experience, even for the agency’s own employees. Craig Briess, international trade lawyer at the agency, found this first hand during a recent meeting on the African Growth and Opportunity Act with the Office of U.S. Trade Representative, during which he needed various regulatory information, he said during an interview. The mobile experience was far too difficult, which is why Briess set out to create a new mobile friendly site, customsmobile.com.

While Briess, an international trade specialist at CBP for the last two years, had some background in programming before he ended up in law school, it had been years since he had worked on website development. Still, Briess went forward with CustomsMobile, which coalesces a number of data sources from cbp.gov to allow for an easier mobile experience. It includes links to searchable Customs Rulings Online Search System, CSMS messages and the HTS, all of which would otherwise require visiting different sites. While not available on the site yet, Briess also plans to have CBP regulations from the Government Printing Office site. There’s already some plans to expand the site, though most immediately the focus will be on enhancing the existing tools, such as a search.

The website is not a money-making effort, said Briess. The project was developed mostly as a service to CBP employees, customs lawyers, importers and foreign exporters, especially those that may be unable to hire U.S. customs brokers or lawyers, he said. Although CBP was officially uninvolved in the site, he did need to run the effort by some of the agency’s officials, he said. Still, it required little interaction from CBP to develop the site, he said.

So far, the feedback has been positive and he has seen more people using the website than he initially expected, said Briess. Anecdotally, some users have said they now prefer to use his site instead of CBP’s even when not using a mobile device. “Improving access to vital trade information will reduce trade costs, as it enables accessibility, internationally, without the cost barrier of a desktop computer or fixed internet cable,” said a press release announcing the site's launch (here). “Making the information available to a wider audience should force accountability and greater government transparency” as well as “further discussion about the pace of the federal government’s technology adoption and leverage." CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.