Our objective was to determine to what extent the establishment of CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise (Centers) has improved the assessment, collection, and protection of revenue. The absence of performance standards made it difficult to determine to what extent the establishment of the Centers improve these, but we identified several areas in which CBP could improve its compliance with the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA), and its procedural guidance for the Centers. Without established performance standards, CBP cannot determine if the Centers are achieving established goals, operating as intended, collecting and protecting trade revenue, or meeting the legislated mission set forth in the TFTEA. We made five recommendations to strengthen CBP’s procedures for assessing, collecting, and protecting trade revenue. CBP concurred with our recommendations.
Open Recommendations
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | $0 | $0 | We recommend the Executive Assistant Commissioners of CBP’s Offices of Trade and Field Operations coordinate to establish and implement procedures to periodically assess the performance of the Centers’ operations to assess, collect, and protect revenues. Specifically, CBP should ensure that the Centers are operating as intended; ensure that established goals are met; and assess the risk to the Centers’ ability to assess, collect, and protect revenue. |
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| We recommend the Executive Assistant Commissioners of CBP’s Offices of Trade and Field Operations coordinate to establishperformance standards for the Centers of Excellence and Expertise. | |||||
| 2 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Executive Assistant Commissioners of CBP’s Offices of Trade and Field Operations coordinate to establish andimplement procedures to periodically assess the performance of the Centers’ operations to assess, collect, and protect revenues. Specifically, CBP should ensure that the Centers are operating as intended; ensure that established goals are met; and assess the risk to the Centers’ ability to assess, collect, and protect revenue. | |||||
| 3 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Executive Assistant Commissioners of CBP’s Offices of Trade and Field Operations coordinate to update allprocedures to clearly define the Centers’ roles and responsibilities in revenue collection, ensure uniformity among Centers, and ensure personnel are trained on the updated procedures. | |||||
| 4 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Executive Assistant Commissioners of CBP’s Offices of Trade and Field Operations coordinate to establish andimplement enforcement procedures that include Center officials in the decision-making process and assist with corrective actions to promptly resolve importer violations. | |||||
| 5 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| We recommend the Executive Assistant Commissioners of CBP’s Offices of Trade and Field Operations coordinate to update appropriatestandard operating procedures for initiation, analysis, monitoring, and management of trade penalty cases that clearly delineate the Centers’ role and define ways to measure improvements. | |||||
