Top cargo security advisor McGowan leaves DHS

Top cargo security advisor McGowan leaves DHS    John McGowan, a long-time veteran of the former U.S. Customs Service, retired Thursday as director of cargo and trade policy at the Department of Homeland Security, according to Customs and Border Protection officials.
   McGowan headed Customs’ enforcement efforts before moving to the Office of Homeland Security last year and then to the new department earlier this year.
   McGowan has accepted a position with international trade law firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, John Considine, CBP’s director of cargo verification, told American Shipper at Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Associations’ Western Cargo Conference in Albuquerque, N.M.
   Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg has offices in Washington, D.C. and several major port cities.
   Brokers and trade lawyers at the conference expressed frustration that DHS officials on panels here could not give a sense of how cargo security plays into the department’s overall strategy and how much support is being given to Customs. McGowan’s departure leaves a vacuum at the top policy level of a department already under fire for not having enough staff that understands the international trade and transportation issues.