BONNER APPRISES COAC OF CUSTOMS SECURITY INITIATIVES

BONNER APPRISES COAC OF CUSTOMS SECURITY INITIATIVES    U.S. Customs is expanding its cooperative efforts with the Canadian government to improve security along the countries’ shared border.'
   U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner said that, within 60 days, Customs personnel will be stationed to screen U.S.-bound cargo in three Canadian ports.
   Bonner, speaking at a meeting of the Treasury Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), said that within the same time frame, Canada Customs will place personnel at the ports of Newark and Seattle to screen cargo bound for Canada.
   This intercontinental coordination, he said, would prove to have an effective influence globally. “This, I think, is going to be a cornerstone and model for the rest of the world.'
   Bonner also stressed that Customs was undergoing its own modifications to keep up with the times. He noted the renaming of the Office of the Trade Ombudsman as the Office of Trade Relations, while assigning a new leader to that department, and adding responsibility to the office.
   “I just didn’t want the position to be viewed merely as an ombudsman,” he said, adding that the new office would spend more time serving as a liaison between industry and Customs.
   Bonner also said that he had submitted a recommendation that the Customs Office of Rules and Regulations, which is under new leadership, work in a more efficient manner. In the past, it has taken more than 200 days for rulings to come out of the office. “That’s just unacceptable,” he said, promising that any ruling taking more than 90 days would be considered backlog.