U.S., Mexico step up customs cooperation

U.S., Mexico step up customs cooperation U.S. and Mexican Customs officials on Monday signed a bilateral strategic plan to expand cooperation on law enforcement, anticorruption training, trade facilitation, border management, customs-trade partnerships, security and post-incident business resumption.
   Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham and Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Julie Myers signed the agreement in Mexico City for the U.S. side. The bilateral plan stems from a Declaration of Principles in June between the Department of Homeland Security and the Mexican Ministry of Finance.
   “This agreement officially recognizes the critical nature of strategic cooperation and collaboration between the United States and Mexico,” DHS Assistant Secretary Myers said. “The working groups established under this plan will help ensure that critical information is shared in a more timely manner and that issues of enforcement, security and trade are managed more efficiently, to the ultimate benefit and safety of both nations.”
   A big part of the effort is designed to align security programs and other cross-border processes to streamline border enforcement and ease the compliance burden for travelers and cargo carriers.