On July 23, 2019 at their annual Trade Symposium, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced plans for a substantial overhaul to the agency’s policies and procedures to be implemented within one year.
Set for final approval in August, the 21stCentury Customs Framework (21CCF) program “seeks to address and enhance numerous aspects of CBP’s trade mission to better position the agency to operate in the 21st century trade environment.” After two rounds of public comments, from December 21, 2018 to February 4, 2019 and from March 12, 2019 to April 11, 2019, CBP refined the six original themes into five foundational pillars around which 21CCF objectives and projects will be organized. Cutting-edge technology will serve as a cross-cutting enabler in support of all five pillars:
- Enhance facilitation and security through 21stcentury processes;
- Define Customs and trade responsibilities for emerging and traditional actors;
- Ensure seamless data sharing and access;
- Employ intelligent enforcement; and
- Protect and enhance Customs infrastructure through secure funding.
Brandon Lord, the Deputy Executive Director of Trade, Policy & Programs for the agency, announced the upcoming changes at the Chicago symposium promised a detailed roadmap with measurable, fundamental changes that would “streamline entry processes,” develop “seamless information sharing,” and a “robust framework for the ecommerce environment.”
“This isn’t a big effort that we want to collapse under its own weight or a big effort that goes on for three to four years,” advised the CBP director. “We actually want to be able to chip away on this where we can.”
Public input is vital as CBP pursues policy, regulatory, and statutory improvements as part of this comprehensive modernization effort. For additional information or to provide feedback, the public can contact the 21CCF team at [email protected].
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