WEBVTT

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[Music]

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Narrator: Hello and welcome to inside CBP. I'm Michael Pope.

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Not long ago an electronics company became part of a new, innovative structure,

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called The Center of Excellence & Expertise

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at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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This company imported microchips.

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Many of which you might find in your smartphone,

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but their shipments into the United States

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were getting stopped at the port of entry,

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so they picked up the phone

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and called the new CBP Center of Excellence & Expertise.

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After contact with the center,

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the company quickly discovered that it was a case that could be

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easily resolved by a little bit of bi-directional education,

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meaning the company described the microchip being imported.

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Knowing this information,

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the port removed any future holds on that type of microchip.

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All of this is due to a relatively straightforward concept of clear,

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accurate communication between CBP and the importers.

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This is what the centers or CEE's now provide to the importers.

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The CEE's are transforming the way CBP

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has been processing trade for hundreds of years

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and represents the future for what is being called, tailor made trade.

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The centers are a common sense trade processing system,

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focusing on managing by account vs. transaction.

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Organized along industry specific lines,

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CBP can understand the intricacies of any one industry.

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By assigning specific centers to specific industries,

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CBP increases its knowledge of the commodities,

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moving compliant goods to market quicker and seizing counterfeit products

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that threaten the economy and health and safety of U.S. consumers.

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CBP's deputy commissioner, David Aguilar,

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recently lauded at the transformational nature of the centers

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at the 2012 West Coast Trade Symposium.

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>> Centralization, consistency, standardization,

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and I believe, a knowledge building capacity is what the CEE's do.

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Narrator: The centers are receiving positive feedback

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from partners in the trade community

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who are enthusiastic about their account based approach.

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>> One added benefit that we have is for our trusted partners

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and those that are both C-TPAT

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and part of our importer self-assessment program,

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we are centralizing all of their entry summary

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and post entry work at the centers

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and that's a huge added benefit for them.

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Narrator: In October 2011, CBP launched this new way

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of doing business with two centers,

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one for the pharmaceutical health and chemical industry

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and one for the consumer and electronics industry.

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These centers quickly began work to facilitate trade more efficiently.

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Their new knowledge also enhanced CBP's enforcement efforts.

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All needed enhancements for CBP frontline officers.

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>> The intelligence and the information

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that the CEE's are providing to our frontline CBP Officers

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and import specialists are truly invaluable.

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It is enabling our frontline personnel to focus their attention on unknown,

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potentially high risk shipments,

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while at the same time, making sure that our trusted traders

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are able to have their flows of cargo moved more efficiently than ever before.

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To be able to harness that information,

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harness that intelligence that the CEE's are really able to cultivate now,

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unlike ever before, has been a real difference maker for us in the frontline.

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Narrator: Now, one of the first centers of excellence and expertise

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opened its doors in October of 2011

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in a city where most corporate headquarters

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for foreign manufacturers of pharmaceuticals are located.

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New York City!

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This center covers all pharmaceutical, health, and chemical imports

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for a select group of what CBP considers trusted partners.

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CBP trade specialists in the pharmaceutical, health, and chemical industries

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maintain constant relationships

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with their corporate contacts in these industries,

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smoothing any bumps that occur during the importation process.

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>> CBP is continuing to roll out its next generation of automated systems,

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the Centers of Excellence & Expertise

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also give us the opportunity to centralize our trade processing,

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rather than having 300 ports of entry making different decisions

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on shipments as they come into the United States,

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it also enables us to treat companies as accounts

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and manage the process on an account basis rather than

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a transactional basis where every shipment has to be treated as unique.

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>> This is definitely the future. This is a game changer.

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This is the way the agency's going in the future.

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It doesn't look like it's turning back any time soon,

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and the trade realizes this and CBP employees also realize this.

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But most importantly, I think the private sector

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is very impressed with what we're doing here at the centers.

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Our trusted partners are not in the business of fraud and we understand that.

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They are our trusted partners, so we're open and honest with them

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and we hope that they're open and honest with us also.

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>> The officers in the field have great knowledge

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in identifying counterfeit pharmaceuticals

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and we use them to enhance our knowledge

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and we use what they know to help us out.

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Working together we make a great team.

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The knowledge they have is invaluable and they work in the field for many years

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and they enhanced our knowledge in identifying counterfeit pharmaceuticals

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and we look to seize a lot more shipments.

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>> For environments where it's difficult to target shipments

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like the international mail facilities,

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we actually send out physical hand bills and alerts

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to make them aware of potential counterfeit products,

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such as cancer medicine, automobile parts, electronics,

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showing them what to look for so they can better identify and intercept

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the packages before they enter the commerce of the United States.

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Narrator: Unfortunately, counterfeit and unsafe goods sometimes enter the country.

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These products are harmful to the U.S. economy

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and our personal health and safety.

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Now the new trade intelligence, targeting and other information

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that the Centers of Excellence & Expertise now provide

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give CBP officers the more accurate information they need

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to seize these harmful products from all U.S. ports of entry,

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like this international mail facility

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at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

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>> We go to the experts for their knowledge base and for their expertise.

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It helps us to do our jobs in an expeditious manner

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and do it quickly and accurately.

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You know, resources are limited and the volumes are getting greater,

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so we have to work smart.

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And this is a great step in that process,

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so whether it's pharmaceuticals, petroleum,

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anything that the centers are going to specialize in,

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is going to be helpful so that we can effectively do our jobs

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and facilitate the legitimate imports

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while intercepting the illegal importations into the United States.

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Narrator: U.S. Customs & Border Protections plan

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is to create more Centers of Excellence & Expertise,

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covering the full range of imported goods.

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As international trade continues to grow more and more complex,

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the Centers of Excellence & Expertise

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will offer a unique tailor made alternative to business as usual.

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For Inside CBP, I'm Michael Pope.

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[Music]