CBP: Export license decisions resolved faster

CBP: Export license decisions resolved faster    Improved inter-agency collaboration and techniques have significantly contributed to reducing the timelines for U.S. export license determinations, said Todd Owen, a top supply chain security official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
   CBP's new focus two years ago on conducting outbound inspections at Southwest border ports to prevent cash and gun smuggling to Mexican drug gangs served as a catalyst for reinvigorating all outbound efforts around the country, he said. Outbound enforcement was virtually eliminated following the 9/11 attacks to concentrate resources on inbound travelers and cargo.
   Companies or individuals must obtain an export license from the State or Commerce departments for munitions or dual-use items, such as technology, to make sure they don't fall in the hands of terrorists, criminal organizations or foreign adversaries.
   CBP monitors exports through the Census Bureau's Automated Export System looking for clues that indicate a possible illegal shipment. Transactions that might need to be controlled and don't have licenses are held and referred to the appropriate agency to make sure licenses are required.
   The response time for license determinations has improved by two or more days in the past 18 months, depending on the licensing agency, Owen said during a question-and-answer period at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America's conference in Phoenix earlier this month.

Owen

   He attributed the improvement to the presence of a CBP liaison officer at the Exodus Command Center (ECC), operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as a central contact point for agencies with responsibility for export controls, and an automated referral process that reduces the amount of paperwork passed back and forth. Electronic transmission of supporting documents from the field to the ECC, and then to the licensing agencies and back, has shortened the wait time for shipments to be released, while the CBP liaison continually monitors the response time for any shipments that are taking longer than the average.
   License determinations from the State Department, which controls products on the U.S. Munitions List, have shown the greatest improvement in speed, Owen said. The Bureau of Industry and Security, part of the Commerce Department, issues licenses for products that don't predominantly have a military application but could be diverted for such a use.
   An export control expert agreed that there has been much better communication between outbound inspectors, headquarters and licensing agencies, but said a bigger problem is that a lot of export violations are being missed because inspectors are not equipped to notice problematic shipments.

DiVecchio

   Exports historically have been a low enforcement priority for CBP, which is focused on imports that generate revenue, or pose a safety or security threat. Any new emphasis on outbound enforcement appears to be aimed more at cash, firearms and counterfeit currency than on enforcing export regulations, said Paul DiVecchio, a Boston-based consultant with more than 30 years of experience advising companies about export compliance, in an interview.
   'If they are just looking at data in AES, then they won't get a true picture of the transaction because all you (the exporter) have to do is give wrong data either innocently or intentionally. You have to do a physical viewing of the commodities. So the inspectors have to be trained to look for certain things and they have to have a relationship with the freight forwarding community,' he said.
   A number of factors explain why many illegal shipments probably escape the attention of CBP inspectors, according to DiVecchio.
   He said most CBP officers do not have sufficient training or the incentive structure to do the extra legwork necessary to understand complex shipments.
   CBP tends to rotate inspectors to various responsibilities to diversify their experience. Officers often take advantage of those opportunities allowed under their union contracts to increase their potential for job promotions. That churn, DiVecchio warned, prevents officers from developing expertise or ties with the freight community.
   DiVecchio said inspectors need to visit freight forwarders to look at shipping documents and the cargo to determine if a shipment doesn't have the necessary licenses.
   They should target their searches on freight forwarders and carriers that serve countries of national security concern, such as China, India or Pakistan, and places that are traditional points for illegal shipment diversion, such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Taiwan, he said.
   'So you work closely with the freight forwarder. The freight forwarder becomes your eyes and ears. And you make it crystal clear to the forwarder that if they facilitate a violation they could be caught up in an investigation, so it behooves them to alert you about shipments that look funny. And if they take it seriously they'll be given the benefit of the doubt,' said DiVecchio, who has conducted export enforcement training for CBP in the past.
   Licensing determinations heavily depend on the quality of the information turned in, but too often inspectors don't go back to the exporter for extra details, such as the end use and parties involved, which are necessary to make an informed judgment, he added.
   CBP inspectors, DiVecchio said, should know how to interpret the Commerce Control list so they understand what the licensing officers are looking for.
   Owen acknowledged afterwards that CBP's automated targeting system for exports is not as robust as the import version, but the agency is working to improve the databases' capacity to help officers flag suspicious shipments.
   In a related matter, Owen said that better training on how to distinguish clerical errors in the AES system has reduced instances of non-uniform enforcement at some ports of entry. ' Eric Kulisch