Supply Chain Leaders Talk Progress, Perils

Supply chain professionals and trade group executives praised the progress U.S. government agencies have made in trade facilitation, and pointed to areas where they could still make progress, during the Global Supply Chain Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 22. The Unified Cargo Processing pilot, which is soon expanding from seven ports of entry to nine (see 1803300020), has reduced crossing time by up to 75 percent, according to Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. He also talked about how private industry can help CBP be more business friendly, such as with private dollars helping to fund a 3.5-mile shortcut from the Mariposa port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, to the highway. He said they're lobbying CBP to set up a donations acceptance program to build a cold storage inspection facility at a port of entry, too. He said his group would also like to see Canada try unified cargo processing with CBP.

Geoffrey Powell, chairman of the board of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said his members would love unified cargo processing to apply to exports, not just imports. Jungmeyer agreed that reducing red tape on the Mexico side is beneficial -- he said that 100 truckloads of U.S. apples cross into Mexico every day. He praised the memorandum of understanding between Mexico and the U.S. announced in March (see 1803270013), which addresses phytosantitary cooperation. "It's not just what happens at the border," Jungmeyer said, complaining that U.S. orchards where peaches and other stone fruit is grown must be inspected by Mexican agricultural officials in order to export to that country. "That's a very outdated approach," he said, because Mexican authorities should trust USDA inspections, and vice versa.

Powell celebrated that ACE, the Automated Commercial Environment, has completed its core capabilities, and said NCBFAA's lobbyist was able to get an additional $34 million for ACE from Senate appropriators. He said of ACE that while it's not done, "we need to be clear on that it's working very well."

Jungmeyer said that importers would like better communication from CBP on software updates that will take down ACE temporarily. He said they need to know when it's time to go back to old paper processes, and when they can return to ACE.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael Dougherty said he hopes the World Customs Organization's e-commerce standards (see 1804180032) will be nearly completed (see 1805040018) a year from now. Cynthia Allen, vice president of regulatory affairs and compliance for FedEx, told the audience about ongoing efforts on the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. The COAC members are encouraging regulatory changes on foreign-trade zones and for customs brokers, but she said the new administration rule that two old regulations must be eliminated before one new one may be promulgated has slowed progress.