CBP Looking at Eventual Single Window Integration with Canada, Mexico, Says McAleenan
MINNEAPOLIS -- The U.S., Mexico and Canada are edging closer to implementing a unified portal to process import and export compliance verifications, as the U.S. strives to meet a 2016 deadline on Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) completion and Canada wraps up work on its own single window, said acting CBP deputy commissioner Kevin McAleenan during June 17 remarks at the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) annual conference. Mexico has already completed work on its single window counterpart and integration among the three countries is “almost visible on the horizon,” said McAleenan.
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A tri-party unified portal would also build off initiatives affiliated with the U.S.-Canadian Beyond the Border program and the U.S.-Mexican Bilateral Strategic Plan, said McAleenan. “We are currently working with our Canadian and Mexican counterparts to understand what each government requires and how we would possibly integrate our systems,” he added. President Barack Obama issued an executive order in February to mandate completion of the International Trade Data System by then end of 2016 (see 14021928). The system is intended to assist foreign government partners to most effectively utilize ACE (here).
Canadian and Mexican government officials also praised the objective at the AAEI conference. “It was clear that single window was a big ask from economic stakeholders in the Beyond the Border Action Plan,” said Kevin O'Shea, an official with the Canadian Privy Council Office, during a panel. “We were actually much buoyed by the fact of the executive order.” After all three countries conclude completion of their respective single window systems, the “logical question” revolves around coordination between the systems, said Juan Carlos Baker, Mexican Ministry of Commerce official charged with overseeing North American trade, at the panel.
CBP Targets Mutual Recognition Arrangements for Exporter Benefits
U.S. Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) continue to give trade facilitation benefits to Trusted Trader partners that ship goods into the U.S., but foreign countries largely do not reciprocate those benefits for U.S. exporters, said McAleenan during the remarks. CBP is currently applying pressure on foreign partners to reward U.S. companies that demonstrate secure supply chain by expediting access to those foreign markets, said McAleenan.
Japan and the European Union are currently leading the way in providing trade facilitation benefits, such as reduced documentation and fewer controls, to Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism certified exporters, said McAleenan. “Over the next few months, CBP will be working to obtain similar benefits from our current MRA partners, five other countries, as well as any future MRA partners,” he added. “By the end of this month, we’ll have our 8th Mutual Recognition Agreement signed with the addition of Israel.” CBP is also striving to seal an MRA deal with Mexico by the end of 2014, said McAleenan.
CBP Also Forges Ahead with Truck Cargo Pre-Inspection Pilots
CBP is aiming to replicate the truck cargo pre-inspection pilots currently underway on the Canadian border with Mexican counterparts, as well, said McAleenan. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP formally launched in February Phase II of the truck cargo pre-inspection pilot at the Peace Bridge crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York, in collaboration with the Public Safety Canada and Canada Border Services Agency (see 14022515). The pilot programs permit CBP officers to exercise legal authority, regarding inspection responsibilities on Canadian soil in order to reduce congestion and expedite the flow of commercial goods.
The programs require “easy-pass” type devices for pilot participants, as a means to bypass the process of truckers physically handing money to CBP officers. The removal of that stage of border passage eliminates 15 to 45 seconds of time spent at the border for each truck, said McAleenan. “Similar pilots with Mexico are currently in the advance planning stage,” McAleenan added. “We’re really just waiting for that final legal authority and the final blessing from the Mexican Congress to have our officers operating with U.S. legal authorities on Mexican soil. So we’re close to testing it out on the southern border as well.” -- Brian Dabbs