Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Scope

Businesses that ship goods or transport passengers into the United States must work with CBP to ensure a safe, secure, and efficient passage over the border.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• Port and port of entry: Any place designated by Executive Order of the President, by order of the Secretary of the Treasury, or by Act of Congress, at which a CBP officer is authorized to accept entries of merchandise to collect duties, and to enforce the various provisions of the customs and navigation laws.
• Shipment: The merchandise described on the bill of lading or other document used to file or support entry, or in the oral declaration when applicable.

Summary of requirements

When CBP was created in 2003, it combined employees from the Department of Agriculture, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Border Patrol, and the U.S. Customs Service. CBP is contained with the Border and Transportation Security Directorate of DHS.

Unifying the border agencies improves the way the U.S. Government manages the border. They are combining their skills and resources to make sure that they will be far more effective and efficient than they were when border responsibilities were fragmented into four agencies, in three different departments of government.

Included in those ranks are inspectors, canine enforcement officers, border patrol agents, trade specialists, and mission support staff. For the first time in American history, people and goods arriving at American ports of entry are greeted by one single agency with one unified goal: to facilitate legitimate trade and travel while utilizing all of the resources at our disposal to protect and defend the United States from those who would do harm.

As the single unified border agency of the United States, the CBP mission is vitally important to the protection of America and the American people. Their strategy to improve security and facilitate the flow of legitimate trade and travel includes:

• Improving targeting systems and expanding advance information regarding people and goods arriving in the U.S.;
• Pushing their “zone of security outward” by partnering with other governments as well as with the private sector;
• Deploying advanced inspection technology and equipment;
• Increasing staffing for border security; and
• Working in concert with other agencies to coordinate activities with respect to trade fraud, intellectual property rights violations, controlled deliveries of illegal drugs, and money laundering.