Who is U.S. Customs & Border Protection?
U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) is the United States’ first unified border entity, and it stands as one of the world’s largest law enforcement entities with over 60,000 employees. This government organization works to prevent terrorism and their weapons from crossing the U.S. border while facilitating legal global travel and trade. CBP – and its policies – inform and shape the trade industry in countless ways.
All international shipments are subject to declaration and reviewby CBP, and A Customs Brokerage strives to stay abreast of the latest changes to the organization as we navigate the international shipping process for clients. We’re exploring the latest updates and changes to their practices and policies in this blog.
Advocating for Change
Is it time to rethink the way we trade? It’s been almost 28 years since the government has provided a revolutionary or impactful change to the trade process. The current landscape of world tradehas accelerated the need to reform the approach CBP and Partner Government Agencies (PGA’s) view how trade is conducted. CPS’s 21st-Century Customs Framework (21-CCF) is born out of this need to modernize and achieve long-term change. By addressing the problems that plague the current trade industry, the 21-CCF will provide a way to overhaul and streamline trade dynamics to meet the needs and challenges of today and the future.
A Changing Trade Landscape
The evolution of the global market, combined with the emergence of new technology and the expansion of e-commerce, has led to weaknesses in the current trade landscape. 21-CCF strives to develop the legislative changes to address emerging technology to better secure national and economic security.
Outdated systems create unnecessary detentions and inefficient uses of resources, which the CPB hopes to restructure to provide a more focused and organized level of enforcement. Further, a more thoughtful system of enforcement using more accurate data sharing would prevent some of the most prevalent issues that torment the system – such as intellectual property rights infringement, forced labor, and unethical trade operations.
Customs Border Protection Changes
In forging a path forward, CBP and trade stakeholders developed five foundational pillars to reach the goals that both parties hope to achieve within the current trade industry. The following five pillars outline changes to the Customs Border Protection and will work together to create more efficient trade processes.
- Enhanced Facilitation and Security Through the 21st-Century – By restructuring and expanding how the trade process leverages today’s technology, simple tasks like data entry and printing documents will become automated. A more digitally streamlined system would give way to a faster, more reliable experience for all parties involved in the trade network – bringing the entire system into the 21st-Century.
- Define Customs and Trade Responsibilities for Emerging and Traditional Actors – International trade is a complex process with many parties and people playing a role. By outlining and clearly defining the roles, requirements, and expectations for everyone involved, the CBP will provide a consistent standard that results in more reliable service.
- Ensure Seamless Data Sharing and Access – Improvements in sharing collected data throughout the supply chain will provide better transparency for all users involved.
- Employ Intelligent Enforcement – In conjunction with superior data sharing, CBP will allocate current resources to better protect US trade operations – identifying and prohibiting those operating in bad faith from taking part in the process.
- Protect and Enhance Customs Infrastructure Through Secure Funding – By investing in the infrastructure needed to keep our trade systems up to date, we ensure that the US leads the world with innovative trade policy, both now and in the future.
The future of trade
21-CCF expects that through its foundational ideals, it will drive change in 3 specific ways:
- Transparency – A genuinely transparent trade network provides all parties involved the assurance that a business is legitimate. The changes will reduce and eliminate the risk of deceptive business practices.
- Data-Centric Decision making – Intelligent decisions made in real-time create better options for smoother and safer transactions moving forward.
- Diversifying Reasonable Care Standards – Expectations set by updated standards will allow for easier communication about problems and solutions as they occur, creating a more reliable and accountable trade system.
While the future of the trade industry is uncertain, now is the time to forge a path forward for a safer, more reliable trade network. A Customs Brokerage is here to help clients understand and navigate CBP and its policies with ease as they participate in international trade. Have more questions? We can answer them. Reach out to our team today.
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