4 May 2007

 

          

 

A major concern the trade has had since the Department of Homeland Security was stood up in 2002, is what would the reorganization do to trade enforcement/compliance? It is, of course, expected and understandable that the main focus of DHS is national security and that is a uniquely government function, but there are too many anecdotes about trade enforcement opportunities which have been missed.

 

The trade has been confronted with the 24-hour rule, advance manifest requirements, 10+2, TSA mandates and many other dramatic changes. At the same time, there have been a plethora of stories about American companies suffering at the hands of unfair competition through misclassification, undervaluation and the like, the specifics of which have been unattended by Customs and Border Protection because the agency has simply been overwhelmed with sometimes conflicting priorities and does not have the staffing it needs to properly discharge all its responsibilities equally.

 

Now comes the Government Accountability Office to tell us, what we thought was going on is, in fact, real. In a report entitled Customs and Border Protection Needs to Improve Workforce Planning and Accountability, GAO begins by stating:

 

“Staff resources contributing to customs revenue functions have generally declined since the creation of DHS due, in part, to department priorities and recruiting and retention problems.”

 

            The office quickly admits the staffing levels are now going back up, but anyone who has tried to reach an import specialist, or learn the status of a drawback claim, petition or protest knows, it just keeps taking longer to get decisions. It is also still the norm that in order to reach a commodity team, the caller will more likely than not get voice mail and have to hope for a return call in the near future….

 

When DHS was created, Section 412(b) of the Homeland Security Act mandated that Customs was to maintain certain minimum staffing levels for nine specific revenue function positions: Import Specialists, Entry Specialists, Drawback Specialists, National Import Specialists, Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures (FP&P) Specialists, Office of Regulations and Rulings (OR&R) attorneys, Customs Auditors, International Trade Specialists and Financial Systems Specialists. The act also mandated minimum levels of support staff, including management, technical and administrative support functions, such as Liquidators, Seized Property Custodians, Customs Technicians, Assistant Port Directors, Account Managers (is the