Officials from Customs and Border Protection and Canada Border Services Agency reiterated the details of the "Beyond the Border" action plan during townhall meetings in Niagara, NY and Toronto on February 28-29, 2012. The presentations describe specific actions and 2012-2014 target dates to achieve goals such as: (i) common data elements for advance cargo screening; (ii) mutual recognition of air cargo security programs for passenger aircraft; (iii) attempted alignment of Canada’s Customs Self Assessment (CSA) and the U.S. Importer Self Assessment (ISA) programs; (iv) assessment on ways to move wood packaging material inspections away from the border; etc.
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
On March 27, 2012, the Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee held a markup of H.R. 4251, the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting for (SMART) Port Security Act. The bill was introduced last week by Rep. Candacie Miller, R-Mich, to secure the global supply chain, find cost savings and improve maritime security.
On March 20, 2012, Reps. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio and Ted Poe, R-Texas, introduced H.R. 4216, the Foreign Counterfeit Protection Act. The bill would allow Customs and Border Protection to exchange important information with rights holders in order to protect intellectual property (IP) rights and to uphold the integrity of trade. H.R. 4216 would improve efforts to identify merchandise or retail packaging that infringes or copyright or bears a counterfeit trademark. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
On March 24, 2012, President Barack Obama urged the House of Representatives to pass the two-year transportation bill, S. 1813, which has already been approved by the Senate. Obama said a failure to pass the bill will allow construction sites and important transportation projects to go idle. He stated that the House must put aside partisan posturing to pay for crumbling roads and bridges. (See ITT’s Online Archives 12031508 for summary of Senate’s passage of S. 1813.) March 21 Congressional Record debate on transportation bill can be found here.