U.S. Customs’ WCO hopes

CBP Commissioner Kerlikowske pushes Hinojosa to lead key WCO directorate.    Much of the world aspires to the U.S. model for customs modernization, but the Brussels-World Customs Organization doesn’t have someone from U.S. Customs in its leadership ranks to help administrations in other countries manage borders more efficiently and securely without bureaucratic red tape.
   Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said that is why he nominated Ana Hinojosa, the deputy assistant commissioner for international affairs, as a candidate to head the WCO’s Directorate of Compliance and Facilitation.
   U.S. Customs has popularized the use of risk management techniques to check for security threats and trade violations associated with travelers and cargo crossing the border. The agency uses a layered approach, advance collection of shipping and passenger data for pre-arrival analysis, non-intrusive inspection technology, and collaboration with industry and international partners to minimize intrusions for those engaged in legal trade and travel.
   CBP was the driving force behind the WCO’s adoption of the SAFE framework for supply chain security. It is also in the midst of a huge transformation initiative to speed up cargo processing and enforcement decisions. Customs officials now see themselves as contributing pro-business conditions that encourage trade and travel and make the U.S. economy more competitive. That mindset is different in many parts of the world, where customs administrations are major revenue generators and often pay little heed to the impact of their decisions, or inaction, on businesses.
   “CBP has to continue to be a leader on security standards and enforcement,” Kerlikowske, who is beginning his second year at the helm of CBP, said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The WCO and industry partners have made clear how helpful we can be” in meeting the dual obligation of security and trade facilitation around the world. “But we need a stronger voice because we have that expertise and credibility,” he said.
   The WCO started in 1947 with 13 post-World War II European governments, which were tasked to examine the potential of setting up one or more inter-European customs unions based on the principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and by 1952 the Customs Cooperation Council was born.
   In 1994, to reflect the global growth in the CCC’s membership, the organization was renamed the World Customs Organization. According to the WCO’s website, it now represents 179 customs administrations worldwide and these members collectively process more than 98 percent of today’s international trade. 
   In 1990s, former U.S. Customs official James W. Shaver served as WCO secretary general. Other U.S. Customs staff held key positions in the organization, such as Patricia McCauley, who served as WCO deputy director of procedures and facilitation.
   The United States has not had a representative in an elected directorate position at the WCO since Commissioner Robert Bonner left office almost a decade ago, Kerlikowske pointed out.
   Yet, U.S. Customs has continued to assist other countries with standing up authorized economic operator programs for trusted shippers in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and implementing modern customs techniques that can save other administrations time and effort because they can learn from CBP’s successes and mistakes, the commissioner said.
   Hinojosa, who is bilingual in Spanish, started her career as an import specialist in the legacy U.S. Customs Service. Over the years, she held numerous management positions, eventually becoming an area port director overseeing operations at two of the largest international airports, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth. She became CBP’s first female director of field operations in El Paso, Texas, on the Southwest border, responsible for 10 land border crossings and three airports. In her current role, she works closely with other U.S. government agencies to provide funding and technical training to help build the capacity of customs administrations in less developed parts of the world. 
   (CBP’s campaign for Hinojosa includes a page on its website describing her accomplishments and a special Twitter handle @HinojosaforWCO.)
   WCO member administrations will elect those customs officers to fill the directorate vacancies during the organization’s council meeting in June. 
   During his Chamber of Commerce address, Kerlikowske also mentioned several programs being implemented to improve how CBP operates and collaborates with trade stakeholders. Accelerating the deployment of the ACE information technology system and the government-wide single window for electronically filing documentation, expansion of the Centers of Excellence and Expertise to ensure consistent post-release processing at all ports of entry, integrating trusted trader programs aligned with international norms and implementing a final rule based on the Air Cargo Advanced Screening program remain CBP priorities, he said.
   CBP is taking the lead, through the Border Interagency Executive Council, to teach other agencies within the U.S. government how to monitor imports for health and safety violations by managing risk and sharing data.
   U.S. Customs has made significant strides toward developing the single window International Trade Data System (ITDS) to share data with dozens of other federal agencies that have a hand in trade. ITDS is expected to be completed by December 2016.
   “Building a single window system and modernizing current processes is a big undertaking and an immensely complex challenge,” said the WCO, which is a proponent of ITDS-type customs systems. “The effort requires close coordination among policy, legal, fiscal, and operational offices from scores of government agencies. It depends upon active and sustained engagement from an array of private-sector players, to include importers and exporters of all sizes, brokers, forwarders, software developers and more.”
   The WCO also praised CBP for encouraging other countries to adopt the WCO Data Model, which provides a technical outline to standardize customs data exchanges.
   “We need to reflect the realities of your business and the world you exist in, the constant evolution of the global supply chain,” Kerlikowske told the chamber. He noted the groundwork laid by his immediate predecessors Alan Bersin, David Aguilar and Thomas Winkowski, who accomplished much despite working on a temporary basis without Senate confirmation.
   Kerlikowske added CBP needs to continue ramping up enforcement of counterfeit smuggling, collect more antidumping/countervailing duties, and streamline regulations.

This article was published in the May 2015 issue of American Shipper.