‘Looking at entire mission’

‘Looking at entire mission’ Bersin makes concerted effort to reform Customs’ trade mission.

   Talk of realigning border security programs and reducing impediments to trade is nothing new at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but in the past that’s mostly what it was ‘ talk. There was tinkering around the edges, but the fundamental trade compliance and security enforcement regime didn’t change.
   Since Alan Bersin took over as commissioner in March 2010 there seems to be something new in the water at CBP. There is a feeling that things are finally starting to move forward, although some of that can be attributed to the fact that there wasn’t a full-time, politically appointed commissioner in office for more than a year.
   Industry representatives engaged in international trade are extremely encouraged by what they hear and see at Customs headquarters in terms of reforming the import process to meet U.S. economic and national security needs. It’s a welcome change to them after the post-9/11 focus on measures to prevent terrorists from sneaking bombs or mass destruction weapons in containers to attack the global supply chain or targets in the United States. Layer upon layer of new security regulations has added complexity and cost to cross-border transactions.
   Bersin says CBP’s objective can’t be to simply increase enforcement without promoting lawful trade, while businesses have to realize that they can’t advocate deregulation without contributing something that will make enforcement more efficient.

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   As one veteran trade specialist recently said, ‘More and more companies and associations are saying, ‘We can’t afford to lose this guy. He’s the first person in a decade that’s really wanted to reinvigorate trade.’ ‘
   Of course, we may never know if Bersin’s fervent push to change the status quo would have happened without clear signals from Congress to implement true trade facilitation measures. In fact, Bersin’s ability to be formally confirmed by the Senate Finance Committee beyond the expiration of his recess appointment near the end of 2011 appears to hinge on how much he improves CBP’s broken relationship with the trade community. And whether CBP will actually be able to find ways to meet, or improve, security requirements while also offering increased benefits to the trade remains to be seen.
   Nonetheless, there is clearly an aggressive campaign within the agency to become a better partner with the business community. Bersin has presented a consistent message to the public about his desire to speed cross-border cargo flows as a way to improve security, and is pushing his staff hard to quickly find solutions that would make life easier for companies that face regulatory hurdles at the border. He has been very passionate about improving the economic competitiveness of the United States.
   His latest instruction: determine how to cut border transaction costs by 10 percent to 20 percent.
   When the Obama administration first talked about doubling exports within five years, some employees said the agency only deals with imports. Bersin, however, felt the agency’s systems and experience managing risk through import data analysis could be applied to help the Commerce Department and other agencies enforce export controls as well.
   Since Day One, Bersin has met frequently with trade association leaders and other import-export practitioners to get a feel for where CBP rules are overly burdensome and how to streamline document filing, inspection and other requirements.
   Each month, starting in November, he opens his office for a ‘trade day’ from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in which one association after another comes in with issues of concern and engages in a dialogue about improving the agency’s border management functions.
   The American Association of Exporters and Importers, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, the Association of American Railroads, the Retail Leaders Industry Association and the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America participated in the December conclave.
   Folks who have met Bersin say he asks the right questions and has a quick learning curve. Last summer he penned a commentary in American Shipper (‘A vision for integration of security, facilitation,’ at www.AmericanShipper.com/links) introducing himself to the trade community and outlining his vision.
   After the parcel bomb plot on all-cargo planes was uncovered Oct. 29, Bersin and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano immediately reached out to the express delivery and airline industries to fashion a solution for filing advance shipment data in a way that won’t delay shipments. That’s critical for an industry that depends on speed as its value proposition.
   Bersin also ordered a major review of CBP trade processes and whether they could be converted to manage importers on an account basis instead of per-shipment or entry.
   Two-dozen officials from ports around the country were brought to Washington for three months to figure out how the agency might facilitate trade for low-risk shippers. Members of the industry-based Commercial Operations Advisory Committee were also closely consulted. One COAC member publicly said that collaboration with CBP last year was unprecedented and that it felt as if the industry representatives were on the same team for once.
   It’s a big job, but so far CBP has launched two pilot programs, one involving a pharmaceutical-specific center of excellence to provide more uniform enforcement and technical guidance, and an account executive for the electronics industry to help shepherd interaction by various CBP components with specific companies.
   ‘What we have to do is move towards an account-based management of our imports and then our exports. This is a fundamental transformation in our relationship with the private sector, one that significantly enhances supply chain security, improves enforcement of trade laws and expedites legitimate commerce,’ Bersin said in an Oct. 14 speech to the Migration Policy Institute.
   But CBP managers have been unable to come up with a neat way to simplify the all-important entry and financial processes in a way that satisfies industry and agency needs.
   Bersin told them to find a third-party firm that specializes in designing processes and systems for handling technical data collection. The first step is identifying the criteria for how a simplified financial process should look.
   The commissioner has also held out the carrot for rethinking how penalties, fines and forfeitures are assessed, but in exchange expects the trade community to share more information and participate in security and compliance partnership programs.
   ‘We were just so excited that someone engaged and actually followed through on stuff,’ said Karen Lobdell, a COAC member and trade consultant, in an interview.
   Industry members may be excited about recent developments, but they still want to see concrete results, especially when it comes to simplifying the customs entry process for trusted traders. That’s the crown jewel for the trade community.
   ‘We’d like to see the same effort and level of commitment from CBP as has gone into C-TPAT and ISF,’ said Don Huber, a COAC member and global customs manager for General Electric, at a recent meeting.’ COAC will continue to press CBP on customs simplification ‘because we feel this is the most important project we could accomplish for the trade as a whole.’
   Realizing that CBP is only one cog in the federal enterprise that regulates imports and exports, Bersin in late October convened a high-level meeting of 10 other agencies involved in product safety to get consensus on a common approach for identifying risky shipments and issuing cargo releases. CBP is the executive agent for many other agencies at the border, but has to follow their policies and instructions when it comes to detaining or releasing cargo. It doesn’t do shippers any good to get the O.K. from Customs only to have the Food and Drug Administration take a week to determine whether a shipment meets safety standards before being allowed entry.
   The senior-level meetings are expected to continue on a regular basis. At the least, Bersin has opened communications to other parts of the government and hopefully created a mechanism to quickly reconcile differences over enforcement strategies. That’s a huge step forward considering the tension that normally exists among agencies with jurisdiction over various aspects of importation.
   Several agencies have also agreed to station a representative at CBP’s Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center to streamline the review of samples and documentation and make joint decisions on whether to seize, destroy, re-export or release cargo held for examination.
   Industry officials give Bersin credit for prodding agency leaders to improve the entry process.
   Bersin has also made development of the Automated Commercial Environment a top priority, endorsing a scaled-back budget while the agency better organizes to deliver key capabilities such as cargo release. His hiring of Cindy Allen from the customs broker industry as executive director of the ACE Business Office is an indication of the importance he places on ACE. Her job is to drive the business requirements for the program that will guide software development.
   The Import Safety conference was a boon for the International Trade Data System, development of which has languished at times along with ACE, because the interagency data-sharing committed to it would necessarily require a single pipeline that can route incoming trade data to the appropriate regulatory bodies.
   The recent creation of a document imaging function, which allows importers and brokers to scan requested documents and electronically forward them to CBP, proves to other participating government agencies that CBP is following through on its commitment to ITDS and delivering a tangible decision-support tool. Other agencies will be able to access the document images through their respective ACE portals, thereby eliminating paper document collection. CBP’s information technology team developed the document imaging system within four months ‘ a virtually unheard of timeline for a government IT project.
   Tim Skud, deputy assistant secretary for tax, trade and tariff policy at the Treasury Department, praised Bersin’s leadership at the Nov. 9 COAC meeting, and said ITDS is really starting to make progress in recent months.
   Based on his actions so far, as well as comments from CBP insiders and outside stakeholders, Bersin is clearly pushing his team to think outside the box and move faster than normal to make decisions and implement trade-easing measures. He’s not letting the bureaucracy rest on its laurels or stall.
   ‘This guy is as innovative as a commissioner as I’ve ever seen,’ the trade veteran said. ‘And he’s bringing it to bear on the trade, on security. He’s looking at the entire mission.’