CBP Looks to Wrap Up 21CCF Discussions, Send Proposal to Congress in 2023, Agency Official Says

LAREDO, Texas -- CBP hopes to wrap up discussions with the trade on its 21st Century Customs Framework in 2023, “putting a bow” on its consultations with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and putting legislative proposals to Congress, said Brandon Lord, CBP executive director-trade policy and programs.

Speaking at the Southern Border Conference Jan. 18, Lord said Congress is tracking the 21CCF discussions closely and “they’re excited about it.” Lord said Congress recognizes CBP needs additional authorities and scope as it addresses non-revenue issues in a “new age” of trade.

The discussions require a mode of thinking that's different from the normal day-to-day work at the agency, Lord said. Unlike regulations, statutory changes are by nature “a little more vague” to provide flexibility to address unforeseen issues. CBP and the trade community will need to live with the changes for the next “20, 30, 40 years,” and need to be careful not to make the changes so specific that they get “locked in,” he said.

As the 21CCF effort has proceeded, CBP has had to overcome a perception that it is too focused on enforcement and not providing enough facilitation benefits to the trade, Lord said. He said he thinks the problem is that CBP “didn’t come out of the gate” with facilitation measures, instead following up on a 2019 public hearing on 21CCF with plans to get data earlier in a reimagined entry process, he said. While those priorities were well-intentioned, giving CBP the ability to provide benefits to the trade, that “didn’t come out explicitly,” Lord said.

CBP has “heard that feedback,” and has since gone back to the trade community and received nine recommendations for facilitative measures from the COAC, Lord said. That’s on top of the 23 discussion drafts CBP put before the COAC, 17 of them endorsed by the advisory group.

One interesting thing about the COAC’s nine facilitation measures is that many, if not all, have a connection to partner government agencies, Lord said. One example of a PGA issue that the COAC presented to CBP is wet cat food, which is regulated by three agencies -- FDA, NOAA and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service -- and requires 54 different data elements, 21 of them duplicative, and 16 of which have inconsistent definitions between the agencies, Lord said.

That type of issue led to a COAC recommendation to clarify definitions and reduce data redundancy among PGAs, one that CBP supports, Lord said. Another recommendation CBP is receptive to is a government-wide Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program that includes the PGAs, he said.

CBP also is considering changes to the entry statute at 19 USC 1484 to support the reimagined entry process, including the elimination of the current two-step entry process and creating a pathway for importers and other parties in the supply chain to share supply chain data prior to entry, Lord said. Companies that have made investments in their supply chain visibility are “very, very eager” to share that data with CBP so they can avoid cargo delays. The data might come from an overseas supplier or a freight forwarder overseas, he said.

“But that data should involve a facilitative benefit,” Lord said. As it works to finalize the statutory language, one big hang-up is what CBP should do if early data from a third party disagrees with the information CBP gets from the importer on the entry summary, he said. CBP does not want to penalize the importer when the 7501 is really the legal final answer, he said. “So we’re sorting through that, but that’s really the problem.”