GAO reviews CBP public-private partnerships

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection expanded its public-private partnership programs at ports of entry over the past year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Thursday.
   CBP entered into almost 80 new agreements for the reimbursable services program (RSP) and donations acceptance program (DAP) since GAO’s last report on the issue in March 2018, the GAO found.
   The RSP covers CBP’s cost of providing certain services at ports of entry, such as supporting customs, agricultural processing, border security or immigration inspection matters.
   The DAP enables entities to donate personal or real property, nonpersonal services or provide funding related to land acquisition, design, construction, repair or alteration, and operations and maintenance to CBP and the General Services Administration at ports of entry.
   In response to a March 2018 GAO recommendation, CBP developed and is implementing an evaluation plan to assess overall performance of the RSP and DAP. The agency plans to issue an internal report on its evaluation in April and share findings with GAO, the report says.
   The GAO didn’t make any recommendations in the report released Thursday.
   As of December, CBP officials estimated the total value of all DAP donations at $218 million.