CBP Issues its FY 2009 Performance and Accountability Report

(The report combines CBP's Annual Performance Reportwith its audited financial statements, assurances on internal control, accountability reporting, and agency assessments in order to enable Congress and the public to assess the performance of the agency as it relates to the CBP mission.)

Material Weaknesses, Instances of Nonconformance

CBP identified the following material weaknesses and instances of nonconformance for FY 2009:

Drawback controls. CBP states that as the Automated Commercial System (ACS) has inherent limitations in detecting and preventing excessive drawback claims, CBP relies on a risk-based approach to review drawback claims. The strengthening of drawback controls is dependent on legislation to simplify the drawback process and to revise document retention requirements for the trade. CBP has recommended changes to the record-keeping requirements; however, support from the Trade community is crucial to proposing a statutory change. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/12/10 news, 10031225, for BP summary detailing CBP drawback weaknesses discussed in the DHS FY 2009 OIG audit report.)

FTZ/bonded warehouse monitoring, in-bond cargo tracking. In addition, weaknesses have been noted and are being addressed in the monitoring of Foreign Trade Zones and Customs Bonded Warehouses, as well as the tracking of In-Bond cargo. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/15/10 news, 10031515, for BP summary detailing CBP in-bond weaknesses discussed in the DHS FY 2009 OIG audit report.)

Information security. In 2007, the Government Accountability Office performed a technical security assessment of US VISIT and determined that CBP needed to immediately address significant security weaknesses in systems supporting core CBP systems. As of 2009, CBP had implemented 61 of 82 recommendations; however, significant upgrades to the CBP infrastructure still remain. CBP anticipates corrective actions to be completed by December 31, 2011, pending available funding.

Business continuity. For FY 2009, CBP reported inadequate resources for business continuity testing (in the event of an emergency) of Chief Financial Officer designated financial systems. During a scheduled test, CBP found that it was not possible to bring all systems online because hardware was not available at the recovery facility to fully and properly perform the continuity testing. CBP is currently studying options for correcting this weakness.

Other issues. In addition, CBP has found weaknesses in its: (i) property, plant, and equipment; (i) financial reporting; and (iii) financial systems security.

(Because of corrective actions implemented by CBP, the material weaknesses in laptop computer security and the Secure Border Initiative program that were reported in previous years were reduced to significant deficiencies for FY 2009 reporting.)

Progress in Achieving Strategic Goals

CBP has outlined its progress in 2009 in meeting its strategic goals as follows:

Met most measures for securing U.S. borders. CBP met most of its performance measures associated with its goal of securing U.S. borders to protect against the entry of dangerous people and goods, unlawful trade and travel. Among other things CBP:

gained an additional 182 miles of border under effective control since 2008, which allowed sectors to re-deploy agents and mobile SBInet technology in order to more efficiently patrol the border;

placed approximately 1,960 new agents at the Southwest Border, further enhancing the sectors' ability to deploy personnel efficiently and responsibly;

screened 39.10% of truck and rail containers for contraband and concealed people using imaging or physical inspection;

screened 4.6% of sea containers for contraband and concealed people using imaging or physical inspection.

Met few measures for legitimate flow of trade, travel. CBP met few of its performance measures associated with its strategic goal of ensuring the efficient flow of legitimate trade and travel across U.S. borders. For example:

C-TPAT. CBP did not meet its targeted compliance rate of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) members with established C-TPAT security guidelines. CBP states that the compliance rate for C-TPAT members with established C-TPAT security criteria decreased from 99.9% in 2008 to 97.5% in 2009 because the program strengthened its validation process, which increased the number of companies suspended or removed following a validation.

ACE. CBP also did not meet its target of 63% for the percent of CBP workforce using ACE functionality to manage trade information. CBP states that this user rate was only 40% due to the later than expected deployment of ACE capability in FY 2009.

Comparison of CBP's FY 2009 and FY 2008 Budgets by Program

The report also presents a comparison of CBP's FY 2009 and FY 2008 budget by major program element as follows:

FY 2009 Statistical Highlights

In its report, CBP lists the following as statistical highlights for FY 2009 (partial list):

Ports of entry: 327 (includes 15 preclearance stations)

Trade entries processed: 24.8 million

Conveyances processed: over 109 million

Total revenue collected: $29 billion (includes custodial and entity revenue)

Border Patrol Sectors: 20 (with 139 Border Patrol stations nationwide and 32 permanent checkpoints)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/11/10 news, 10031115, for BP summary providing an overview of the DHS OIG FY 2009 audit report of CBP's internal controls.

See ITT's Online Archives or 02/20/09 news, 09022005, for BP summary of CBP's FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report.)

Questions and comments should be sent to CBP.PAR@dhs.gov

CBP's Performance & Accountability Report for FY 2009 available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/publications/admin/perform_rpt_2009.ctt/perform_rpt_2009.pdf