Four U.S. senators are taking steps to ensure that trade facilitation is part of a customs law update that is continuing to gain traction in Congress.
In November 2021 Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced what was billed as the first significant customs modernization legislation in nearly 30 years, but observers said it focused more on enforcement than trade facilitation. Cassidy has now joined with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., to seek input on “how best to promote effective trade facilitation” as part of an effort to update customs laws and advance U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 21st Century Customs Framework.
In an open letter to the trade community, the senators said that while security must remain part of the equation, “minimizing disruptions in our supply chains and creating more efficient processes to streamline the movement of legal goods and services across borders would benefit consumers, businesses, and the government.” Toward that end they asked for responses by July 11 to the following questions.
- What current barriers and challenges does the trade community face as it relates to trade facilitation?
- What improvements would be most effective (e.g., eliminating redundant data requirements for entry of merchandise, improving the Automated Commercial Environment to better implement
the single window, or facilitating data transmission by parties as it develops in the supply chain)?
- How could the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and pre-clearance programs at foreign ports be enhanced to improve both trade facilitation and security?
- How can Congress strike the appropriate balance between security/enforcement and trade facilitation?
- What economic benefits can be expected from the suggested improvements for trade facilitation?
Customs modernization appears to be a topic of growing interest among both lawmakers and the trade community. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on this issue in February and is reportedly planning another later this summer. CBP has been working with its Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and other government agencies to finalize a legislative package of its own and could submit it to Congress in the coming months.
For more information on these efforts, please contact Lenny Feldman at (305) 894-1011 or via email or Nicole Bivens Collinson at (202) 730-4956 or via email.
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