Bonner Says Realignment of Inspection Force Will Facilitate Trade

Bonner Says Realignment of Inspection Force Will Facilitate Trade    The move to create a single inspection workforce trained in customs, immigration and agricultural entry disciplines will provide tremendous benefit to the trade community, U.S. Customs Bureau Commissioner Robert Bonner said Friday.
   Streamlining the primary inspection process will mean incoming shipments can get released after one primary check rather than having to go to separate areas for customs and agriculture clearance.   
   'We are moving toward one exam area in every port,' Bonner said during a meeting with a small group of reporters in his office.
   Consolidating facilities will also reduce importer costs, he said. 'Somebody has to pay for those moves,' when cargo has to be transferred from a customs inspection site to a separate agriculture screening area.
   The Department of Homeland Security this week formally unveiled its plan to roll all inspection functions together so they can be handled by one officer instead of requiring people entering the country to go through separate clearance processes. Bonner said some agriculture functions are so technical that Customs will still reserve 1,500 positions for agriculture specialists to support primary inspectors.
         The creation of a unified inspection force acts as a force multiplier by increasing the number of inspectors able to conduct tasks such as search for illegal drugs or identify fraudulent entry documents.
   'You don't have to necessarily run the gauntlet' any more, Bonner said.
   The reorganization also gives the agency much more flexibility to move inspectors where and when they are needed, Bonner added.
   'If you've got 18,000 inspectors and they are all multi-functional you can staff all the lanes in a way you can't do now,' he said. In the past, many border crossings could not extend their service hours because the former Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service had different personnel policies and shifts. Now, with both agencies under one roof, staffing can be better coordinated.
   Bonner said this flexibility has already had positive results on the southern border with Mexico. He said the recent decision to keep the Otay Mesa border facility open 24 hours per day has relieved pressure and decreased wait times at the heavily trafficked San Yasidro checkpoint, which is only eight miles away.