U.S. Customs Bureau reports growing trade in 2003

U.S. Customs Bureau reports growing trade in 2003    The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection collected a record $24.7 billion in duties and import fees during the fiscal year 2003, ended Sept. 30, according to an annual report on the agency's activities issued last week. In fiscal 2002, the legacy Customs Service took in $23.8 billion in receipts.
   In a series of press releases, the Department of Homeland Security agency quantified the amount of trade it processed and enforcement actions to prevent illegal imports of drugs, agricultural products and intellectual property.
   The value of imports into the United States for fiscal 2003 totaled $1.2 trillion, up from $1.1 trillion in 2002. The number of trade entries also served as an indicator of increased trade. Customs said it processed 26.1 million entries in 2003, up 1.2 million from fiscal 2002.
   The total volume of international traffic processed by Customs and Border Protection was 11.1 million truck containers with a value of $3.5 billion; 2.4 million rail containers with a value of $10.8 billion, and 9 million sea containers with a value of $344 billion. The number of sea containers entering the country increased a robust 1.8 million from the previous year.
   Canada remains the top trading partner of the United States with 15 percent of the value of 2003 imports, followed by China with 11.5 percent, and Mexico at 10.6 percent.
   On the enforcement side, Customs said it made 6,500 seizures of merchandise, valued at $94 million, in violation of intellectual property right laws, an increase of about 700 from 2002. Violations cover areas such as trademark, trade name, copyright and patent infringements. Counterfeit cigarettes topped the seizure list at a value of $41 million, followed by wearing apparel at $14 million, handbags, wallets and backpacks at $11.5 million and entertainment media like DVDs at $7.3 million.
   The top five countries of origin for counterfeit goods are China, Hong Kong, Korea, Pakistan and Mexico.
   The agency’s agriculture inspectors intercepted prohibited plant material, meat and poultry, and animal by-products on 1.74 million occasions in 2003.
   On the drug front, U.S. customs officers and agents seized more than 2.3 million pounds of illegal drugs totaling more than $9.5 billion. Comparisons to other years were not immediately available, but are difficult to make because it is difficult to tell if increased levels of seizures is a function of improved detection methods or just a rise in illegal activity.
   There were 1,337 currency seizures valued at $51.7 million in the 2003 fiscal year.