Facilitation Working Group News
Jacksta’s Successor Appointed at CBP, Oct. 18, 2007 - Paul Morris, executive director, Admissibility and Passenger Programs at Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations will succeed Robert Jacksta, former executive director for Travel Security and Facilitation. One of the reasons for the title change is that Morris will retain his responsibilities from his earlier position as executive director of Admissibility Requirements and Migration Control.
Jacksta was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations at CBP in September. He reports to Thomas Winkowski, assistant commissioner, Office of Field Operations, who assumed that position in August.
With the change in the leadership of the Office of Field Operations, there has been some reorganization as well. A new organization chart is still being formulated.
GAO Testifies on the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Program, Oct. 10, 2007 - The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently testified before Congress on the effectiveness of the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) program since its transfer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred responsibility for the inspection program and 1,800 agricultural inspectors to CBP. However, the act left several functions including setting policy, collecting user fees and administering training to the Department of Agriculture. GAO noted that CBP has faced a “daunting task” in incorporating agricultural inspections into its core missions of detecting and preventing terrorists and their weapons from entering the U.S.
In preparing its testimony, GAO conducted a survey comprised of a random sampling of CBP’s agricultural specialists. While 86% of respondents reported that they were very well or somewhat prepared for their mission, 59 – 60 % responded that they were conducting fewer inspections and interceptions, respectively, since the transfer to CBP.
GAO stated that steps have been taken to improve the AQI program including: expanding and standardizing training for CBP officers, providing agricultural specialists with access to CBP data in order to better target resources, and establishing a new position, called an “agricultural liaison,” at each of its 20 field offices.
Still, GAO noted that challenges remain and several management issues must be addressed by CBP. These included providing adequate staffing for the AQI program. Currently, it has only 2,116 agricultural specialists, about 1,000 less than CBP’s staffing model requires.
Air Passenger User Fees Study Released, Sept. 25, 2007 - The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study examining the three separate user fees paid by international air travelers arriving in the U.S. The study also reviews the challenges faced by agencies in administering these fees and the implications of consolidating the fees.
Obtaining a GAO study on the international air passenger user fees has been a priority of the Facilitation Group. Ranking Member John Mica (R-Fla.) of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, along with several other members of Congress, officially requested the study in mid-2006. ACI-NA’s original objective was to have GAO examine the relationship between the user fees and the cost of a passenger inspection. Specifically, it asked GAO to obtain information that the three user fees should provide sufficient funding to support enough CBP officers at airports to meet travel demand. Unfortunately, the consultations between GAO and the Congressional requests resulted in a different approach to the study request and produced this report.
While the report provides useful information on the statutory and regulatory authorities that govern the fees, it does not examine the core issues of cost-basis for fees and potential diversion of user fee revenues to other purposes.
Currently, international air travelers arriving in the U.S. pay a fee for customs and immigration inspection (two separate fees, both administered by Homeland Security), as well as an agriculture inspection fee which is administered by the Department of Agriculture. The report describes the complicated statutory and regulatory framework that governs the fees. For example, statute governs how customs user fees can be used; not all the reimbursable activities are associated with inspections and not all inspection activities are reimbursable. CBP maintains that the customs user fee pays only 72% of its inspection-related costs, but that it would recover all of its costs were the exemptions for travelers from Canada, Mexico and adjacent islands eliminated. Furthermore, CBP shares the agriculture fee with the Department of Agriculture and the immigration fee with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), also in the Department of Homeland Security.
GAO makes 10 recommendations to the Departments of Homeland Security and Agriculture to improve cost estimates, collection, distribution, remittance, and compliance of the user fees in the report. Additionally, GAO recommends Congressional action to better align the user fees.
To access the full GAO report, Federal User Fees: Key Aspects of International Air Passenger Inspection Fees Should be Addressed Regardless of Whether Fees Are Consolidated, visit http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071131.pdf