CBP Front Line Cargo Operations Would Continue in DHS Shutdown, Administrative Functions to Stop

A Department of Homeland Security funding lapse will not stop "front line cargo operations" and import and entry specialists will continue to review entries during that time, said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. Kerlikowske discussed the looming shutdown, a result of a fight over DHS funding in congress, with members of the trade industry and reporters in a Feb. 26 call. Despite going without a paycheck during the shutdown, CBP personnel will also be available to answer questions for importers and brokers, he said. DHS funding will stop Feb. 28 unless congress allocates more funding before then.

Agency operations that will stop as a result of a shutdown include responses to e-Allegations, antidumping/countervailing evasion targeting and auditing, and Jones Act waiver request processing, said Kerlikowske. "Import trade administration functions," such as the issuance of prospective rulings, protest decisions and customs broker licenses, will stop during the shutdown, he said. Quota monitoring and the training of new CBP officers will also stop without the funding, said Kerlikowske.

While employees in revenue positions -- the agriculture, import, entry and drawbacks specialists -- will be working, they will need to focus on "fundamental border security duties," said Todd Owen, assistant commissioner in the Office of Field Operations. As result, both import and export cargo detentions may remain on hold "until the furlough is over," he said. Non-revenue positions, which include some program managers at the Centers of Excellence and Expertise, and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism supply chain specialists will be furloughed, he said. Although the ports will "operate with the majority of their staff," CBP headquarters and field offices will operate with the "bare minimum," said Owen.

The West Coast field offices will continue to be allowed to perform overtime services, Owen said. He said the question of extended radiation portal monitor gate hours and non-intrusive inspection exams has repeatedly come up as those ports deal with congestion and a large backlog. CBP began allowing for extended hours following a resolution to a labor contract fight on the West Coast (see 1502230002), said Owen

The current situation differs from the government-wide shutdown in 2013 (see 13093028) as other agencies will continue to operate as normal, said Brenda Smith, assistant commissioner in the Office of International Trade. As a result, trade issues with other agencies would be best handled directly with those agencies, she said.

Work on the Automated Commercial Environment and the International Trade Data System, or single window, may also suffer, he said. "The timely deployment of the single window may be threatened" because the technical support personnel would not be allowed to work, said Kerlikowske. While ACE development will continue, the technical support for the trade will stop if DHS is shutdown, said Kerlikowske. A furlough "will not impact" the May 1 requirement for mandatory manifest filing in ACE, said Smith. The impact on the Nov. 1 requirement for cargo release filing and on development of the single window is not clear, she said. The agency is also still uncertain whether it will cancel the planned ACE software conference scheduled for March 3-5.