U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final rule that, effective Nov. 16, revises its regulations to clarify that the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to establish, rearrange or consolidate, and discontinue customs ports of entry and customs stations. This authority was granted under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 but CBP’s regulations (which still cite the Treasury Department as having this authority) have never been updated accordingly.
Customs ports of entry, which include customs service ports, are those entry locations authorized to receive entries of merchandise for the collection of duties and for the enforcement of the various provisions of the customs and navigation laws. Customs stations are locations outside the boundaries of customs ports of entry that have the same authority.
CBP states that in most cases customs ports of entry and customs stations exist within the same physical location as immigration ports and utilize the same CBP personnel for processing travelers and merchandise. However, despite the use of the same location and personnel, there are separate regulations governing the authority to establish, rearrange, consolidate, and close the immigration and customs ports and stations.
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