NAM forms Customs and Border Coalition

(Journal of Commerce Online)

The National Association of Manufacturers announced the creation of a new Customs and Border Coalition charged with making sure that business concerns are addressed when government agencies are developing security rules and procedures that govern exports and imports.

“The NAM is launching the CBC because we see a critical need for a unified business voice on border issues,” said John Engler, NAM president and chief executive. “We can have secure borders without shutting down commerce.”

The group said that the coalition will bring together individual businesses and associations to review programs and regulations issued by government agencies affecting transportation of manufactured products across the nation’s borders in order to assess where changes are needed to assure that commerce is not unnecessarily impeded.

“We will work with government agencies to offer practical alternatives, whenever possible, for achieving our mutual security objectives without disrupting commercial traffic,” Engler said.

Engler cited as an immediate issue of concern the controversial 10+2 security filing rule proposed by Customs requiring importers to submit 10 types of information and shippers two new types prior to loading a container for shipping.

Engler said, “As it was originally written, the 10+2 rule would have cost U.S. manufacturers as much as $20 billion annually, created huge delays and missed shipments in the global supply chain, risked shutting down U.S. production lines and actually worsened security by increasing the amount of time containers sat around available for tampering at foreign ports.” Read more here.