Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. The movement of people into and out of a country is normally monitored by migration authorities, under a variety of names and arrangements. Immigration authorities normally check for appropriate documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country, apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants, and impede the entry of people deemed dangerous to the country. Compare illegal emigration.
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control, immigration enforcement, and customs services in Canada. The CBSA is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
The Container Security Initiative (CSI) was launched in 2002 by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. Its purpose was to increase security for container cargo shipped to the United States. As the CBP puts it, the intent is to "extend [the] zone of security outward so that American borders are the last line of defense, not the first."
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and is the country's primary border control organization. It is charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs, and immigration. CBP is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. It has a workforce of more than 45,600 sworn federal agents and officers. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Robert Cleve Bonner is an American former prosecutor, former United States District Judge, former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and former Commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology, a retired partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and former Chair of the California Commission on Judicial Performance.
Advance Commercial Information Definition (ACI) is a project of the Canada Border Services Agency. By comparison it is similar to the United States-based Automated Manifest System (AMS). Once completely implemented, ACI will require that all commercial cargo entering Canada be electronically registered with the Agency. The project's aim is to improve border security and efficiency.
Supply-chain security refers to efforts to enhance the security of the supply chain or value chain, the transport and logistics system for the world's cargo. It combines traditional practices of supply-chain management with the security requirements driven by threats such as terrorism, piracy, and theft.
Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is a federal law enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). AMO is the world's largest civilian aviation and maritime law enforcement organization. Its mission is to protect the American people and nation's critical infrastructure through the coordinated use of air and marine assets to detect, interdict and prevent acts of terrorism and the unlawful movement of people, illegal drugs, and other contraband toward or across the borders of the United States. Air and Marine Operations Agents and Officers are endowed with the authority to enforce Title 8 and Title 19 (Customs) of the United States Code in addition to the general law enforcement powers bestowed upon federal law enforcement agents.
Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security. It refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the seaports themselves and the protection and inspection of the cargo moving through the ports. Security risks related to ports often focus on either the physical security of the port, or security risks within the maritime supply chain.
The Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) is the tactical unit of the United States Border Patrol, considered the CBP's equivalent of a SWAT team. In 2007, BORTAC was placed under the command of the newly formed Special Operations Group (SOG) together with the Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue Unit (BORSTAR).
The Office of Field Operations (OFO) is a federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) responsible for managing United States customs operations at 20 Field Operations offices, 328 ports of entry, and 16 pre-clearance stations in Canada, Ireland, the UAE, and the Caribbean. Headed by a CBP Assistant Commissioner, OFO directs the activities of more than 27,000 employees, including more than 22,000 CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists. CBP Office of Field Operations is the largest component in CBP. It is headed by Assistant Commissioner Todd Owen.
NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border entry points by using reserved lanes at land crossings into Canada and the United States, by using self-serve kiosks at airports in Canada, the US and some international locations, or by phoning border officials for a marine entry. A NEXUS membership card is a valid document under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), so it can be used in place of a passport, including by air if flying between the US and Canada.
The Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program is a joint United States-Canadian program between the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The FAST initiative offers pre-authorized importers, carriers and drivers expedited clearance for eligible goods, building on what Canada previously implemented under their Customs Self Assessment (CSA) program. In French language, FAST is referred to as EXPRES – Expéditions rapides et sécuritaires.
According to the World Customs Organization (WCO), an authorized economic operator (AEO) is
"a party involved in the international movement of goods in whatever function that has been approved by or on behalf of a national Customs administration as complying with WCO or equivalent supply chain security standards. Authorized Economic Operators include inter alia manufacturers, importers, exporters, brokers, carriers, consolidators, intermediaries, ports, airports, terminal operators, integrated operators, warehouses and distributors"
U.S. citizens and permanent residents entering Canada by land are required to possess the requisite documentation, and to meet other criteria before they are allowed entry into Canada. Consequently, travelers must also meet the requirements for re-entering the U.S. at the end of their visit.
The Global Trade Exchange (GTX) is, or was, a controversial Homeland Security intelligence project, related to maritime-ports data-mining, being one of three pillars of the Safe Ports Act-related Secure Freight Initiatives. The Global Trade Exchange has a mysterious history dating from conception in 2004, a 2007-2008 year of hype, and sudden placement on "hold" status. Described as a ready-to-buy, commercially available database, the GTX was rush-funded by Congress as part of and championed relentlessly by then-United States Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff in evident disregard of objections of confused and frustrated U.S. private sector trade groups. After a year-long spate of official support, media hype, and after award of Congressional funding of $13 million, the GTX was put "on hold for further study by the [U.S.] Navy" in April 2008, for reasons still yet to-be explained. Touted by senior U.S. officials and Congress in 2007 as an anti-terrorism database for tracking long-haul shipping containers, the Global Trade Exchange's principal focus appears to have a different focus, notably advance trade-finance information for market-making purposes.
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced a new rule, known as the Importer Security Filing (ISF) or more commonly called 10+2; which requires containerized cargo information, for security purposes, to be transmitted to the agency at least 24 hours (19 CFR section 149.2 before goods are loaded onto an ocean vessel headed to the U.S. for shipment into the U.S. 10+2 is pursuant to section 203 of the SAFE Port Act, and requires importers to provide 10 data elements to CBP, as well as 2 more data documents from the carrier.
Livingston International is a North American provider of customs brokerage services. Livingston International provides customs brokerage, trade consulting and international freight forwarding services to importers and exporters throughout North America and around the globe. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with U.S. headquarters in Chicago, Livingston has over 3,300 employees located at more than 125 border points, seaports, airports and other locations across in North America, Europe and Asia. Livingston is currently Canada's largest customs broker and third-largest in the United States.
IES, Ltd. (IES) Ltd. was a supply chain management software company that developed software for freight forwarders, customs brokers, 3PLs, importers, exporters, NVOCCs and other intermediaries to submit entries to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Canada Border Services Agency and other agencies.
A Customs declaration is a form that lists the details of goods that are being imported or exported when a citizen or visitor enters a customs territory . Most countries require travellers to complete a customs declaration form when bringing notified goods across international borders. Posting items via international mail also requires the sending party to complete a customs declaration form.
