Summary of the U.S. Strategic planning
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection seeks to prevent terrorists and weapons from getting into the heat of U.S. while facilitating efficient flow of legitimate goods and people in and out of the boarders. The body believes that the stake of international security and prevention of terrorism tendencies are significantly linked. Therefore, the success of international trade is in its ability to limit terror and facilitate free and effective flow of goods and people.
The core business of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection protection trade strategy is to enforce the U.S trade laws and ensure a free trade flow into the country (U.S. Customs and Border Protection 6). By fostering a secure and fair trade process that interdicts unsafe and inadmissible goods and people, and providing protection to the economic security of the industry, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection endeavors to strengthen the nation’s ability to deal with national and international trade security challenges and promote support trade (U.S. Customs and Border Protection 12).
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Strategic Trade plan for the financial years 2009 and 2013 was developed to address the increasing volumes of trade. The U.S. continues to witness a substantial growth of imports due to global economic integration. During 2007, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department registered entry of goods worth $2 trillion and 10 million consignments represented by 810,000 importers. These statistics indicated that the trade had grown by 65% as compared to 2001. Analysts have suggested that the volume of trade would triple by the end of 2015 (U.S. Customs and Border Protection 6).
This eminent growth and the inherent risks associated with it challenge the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The department should develop strategies to align with the impending security risks of unfair trade, illegitimate imports, and ensure the safety of the nation’s economy. Therefore, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection focuses on the development of effective trade facilitation mechanisms among all the priority trade issues that expose the U.S. economy and security of its customers and trade stakeholders.
Strengths of the CBP Trade strategic plan
The direct collaboration with other government agencies, such as the homeland security, has enabled the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to deal with complex security challenges through information sharing approaches. Similarly, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has embraced quality monitoring by proposing regulatory requirements aimed at managing risks beyond its borders and before entry of goods and people. This includes disclosure of vital cargo and individual data in advance before transiting.
Weaknesses of the CBP Trade strategic plan
Non-compatible automation systems of data collection, management and monitoring do not allow for real time transaction. Another weakness facing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the focus on border intervention rather than on developing a strategy that goes beyond its borders (U.S. Customs and Border Protection 12; Schied 94).
Recommendations for improvement of the strategic plan
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection must seek out ways of modernizing its data management systems that will ensure real time collection, storage and dissemination of trade and security data (Schied 94). It must embrace integrated information shared with other security and trade agencies via a single-window interface system.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection must also undertake to train its workforce to adapt to the changing risk and law environment as presented by the impending security and trade risks. These skills should include risk assessment, database knowledge, and audit.
A survey of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department reveals that the body must be prepared to resolve its infrastructure constraints, which have failed to cope with the ongoing explosion in trade volume transactions. For instance, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection should improve its current bandwidth Internet connectivity and monitoring stations (U.S. Customs and Border Protection 12).
Works Cited
Schied, Eugene. U. S. Customs and Border Protection: Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2009. New York: DIANE Publishing, 2010. Print.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Trade Strategy. Fiscal Years 20089-2013. 2009. Web.