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DHS names new COAC members

Industry advisory group to Customs and DHS gets new members.

   The Department of Homeland Security has named a dozen new industry members to sit on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske made the announcement in a speech Tuesday morning at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
   The new members of the 14th COAC are:

  • Cynthia Allen, vice president and head of customs brokerage for DHL Global Forwarding in the U.S. and a former head of the Automated Commercial Environment Business Office at CBP
  • Brenda Barnes, director of export customer service, George S. Bush & Co.
  • Celeste Catano, senior global strategist, Kewill (trade management software provider)
  • Lenny Feldman, a Miami-based trade attorney with Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg
  • Lisa Gelsomino, president and CEO of Avalon Risk Management
  • Alexandra Latham, director customs compliance, Costco Wholesale
  • Amy Magnus, director of customs affairs and compliance, A.N. Deringer (freight forwarder and customs broker)
  • Madeleine Veigel, director of customs for the Americas, Expeditors International (freight forwarder and customs broker)
  • Adam Salerno, senior director of national security, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Michael White, director of cargo facilitation, security and standards, International Air Transport Association
  • Michael Young, vice president process and systems, Orient Overseas Container Line USA (ocean carrier)
  • Heidi Brey, customs compliance manager, Chrysler Group

   Sandler, Travis & Rosenber, Chrysler and Microsoft have previously been represented on COAC.
   Members returning for a second term are:

  • David Berry, a vice president at Swift Transportation (Phoenix-based trucking company)
  • Scott Boyer of Kraft Foods Group
  • Suzanne Hoeger, director of global trade compliance and policy at Abbott Laboratories
  • Vincent Iacopella, managing director of the Los Angeles office The Janel Group (third-party logistics provider)
  • Julie Ann Parks, senior manager export/import operations at Raytheon Corp., Plano, Texas
  • Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwaders Association
  • Elizabeth Merritt, director of cargo services for Airlines for America
  • Kevin Pinel, Microsoft Corp.

  The first public meeting of the 14th COAC is scheduled for April 24.