CBP to combine trusted traveler programs

CBP to combine trusted traveler programs    U.S. Customs and Border Protection is working to merge Global Entry with other trusted traveler programs and expand it to Mexico, Department of Homeland Security officials said last week.
   CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin met with Mexican Customs and private sector officials last week in Mexico City about ways to facilitate trade at land ports of entry and finalize expansion of the Global Entry trusted traveler program to Mexico, Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday at a conference on Capitol Hill devoted to the Southwest border.
   Global Entry allows pre-approved, low-risk international travelers to speed through Customs checkpoints at airports by using automated kiosks that can read an electronic passport and fingerprints on a touch screen to confirm identity.

Winkowski

   CBP is also in the process of consolidating Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS into a single trusted traveler program, Thomas Winkowski, assistant commissioner for field operations, said the day before in prepared testimony to the House Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security.
   SENTRI and NEXUS are programs that allow trusted travelers on the southern and northern borders to be processed through dedicated lanes. Applicants for all three programs pay fees ranging from $50 to $122 and undergo background checks and interviews.
   'This consolidation will reduce redundancy, cut costs and maintenance, improve coordination, and provide a single source for traveler information,' Winkowski said.
   Earlier this year, CBP announced that NEXUS and SENTRI members could take advantage of Global Entry kiosks at airports at no additional cost. But some individuals may need to submit their 10-digit fingerprints if they are not on file with CBP. And Mexican nationals need to apply to Global Entry and pass a risk assessment conducted by the Mexican government.

Bersin

   Bersin has set a goal of increasing participation in Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS from less than 1 million to 3.5 million persons. Global Entry doubled in size to 200,000 participants in 2010.
   CBP also operates the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program, which allows expedited processing for approved motor carriers with truck drivers who undergo background checks and that haul goods for pre-screened importers.
   Other DHS agencies manage the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) program, which also requires similar types of personnel screening in ports, but those programs and databases have yet to be integrated.
   Nonetheless, the consolidation of the trusted traveler programs underscores that travelers often enter the United States at different borders over time and that information on them should be accessed through a single repository to improve detection of individuals that pose a potential security threat.
   Meanwhile, the U.S. Travel Association issued a report that urged DHS to expand access to trusted traveler programs for international passengers entering the United States, as well as lead efforts to establish a multinational network of streamlined entry procedures for low-risk travelers.
   The report by a panel of travel and security analysts also called for Congress to authorize the Transportation Security Administration to create a voluntary, trusted traveler program for domestic flights, and a requirement that travelers be allowed to check at least one bag at no additional cost to the ticket price as a means to reduce the amount of luggage going through security checkpoints.
   Airlines earn hundreds of millions of dollars per year from checked-bag fees. Napolitano testified before Congress earlier this month that the extra carry-on baggage as a result of people trying to avoid such fees increased TSA's costs by about $260 million.
   The group said the need for changes in aviation security are evident from recent research showing that travelers are avoiding two to three trips per year because of hassles associated with security screening, at a cost of $85 billion and 900,000 jobs in the United States.
   A restructured passenger security system should be based on risk-management principles and procedures so that physical screening and interrogations are limited to those with suspicious or unknown backgrounds, the report said.
   It also recommended that DHS should enable certain low-risk passengers who are traveling to another domestic airport to forego checked baggage and passenger screening upon landing in the United States.
   'While our government and passengers deserve credit for preventing another terrorist attack like what happened nearly 10 years ago on 9/11, each day in the United States roughly two million air travelers are advised to arrive upwards of two hours before a flight in order to be processed through a one-size-fits-all security screening system,' Roger Dow, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement.
   'The country that put a man on the moon, invented the Internet and creates daily innovations in manufacturing can and must do better in screening passengers and improving our air travel experience. Air travel is the gateway to commerce and an improved experience is directly tied to job creation and a stronger economy,' Dow said.
   The report said the trusted traveler program should initially focus on populations that are already vetted by the federal government, such as members of Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, TWIC, FAST, federal law enforcement employees, members of the armed forces, airport workers who have access to secured areas of airports, and federal contractors with active security clearance at the secret level or above. Individuals in these groups should be offered free enrollment in the new trusted traveler program.
   The ultimate goal of a trusted traveler program should be to process at least 25 percent of passenger trips at far less cost than 25 percent of the existing screening budget, it said.

Pistole

   TSA Administrator John Pistole said in an address to the American Bar Association in January that the agency is considering more of a risk-based approach to passenger screening using more advance data about an individual's identity.
   Types of data that could be requested under a trusted traveler program include credit information, tax returns and other personal information.
   The report also recommended that the TSA administrator be made a long-term, non-partisan post similar to the FBI director so that it is not subject to the political vagaries and delays associated with the process of confirming presidential nominations.
   The panel that issued the report was co-chaired by former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge and included FedEx Express CEO David Bronczek, as well as the presidents of baggage scanner manufacturers Rapiscan Systems and L-3 Security and Detection Systems. ' Eric Kulisch