On October 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the launching of 2 industry-specific centers: the Center of Excellence and Expertise – Electronics in Los Angeles and the Center of Excellence and Expertise – Pharmaceuticals in New York.

The centers will serve as a single point of processing for businesses enrolled in CBP’s trusted shipper programs, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA).

The purpose of each center is to continue the efforts to increase uniformity of practices across ports of entry, facilitate the timely resolution of trade compliance issues nationwide and to further strengthen critical agency knowledge on key industry practices. According to CBP Commissioner Alan D, Bersin, “the Centers of Excellence and Expertise will fundamentally transform the way CBP approaches trade operations and works with international trade community.”

Required import documents for trusted partners within the 2 specific industries are now being routed to their respective industry center. While revenue collection will continue to be carried out at the ports of entry, the centers will begin to perform all validation activities, protests, post entry amendment/post summary correction reviews, and prior disclosure validations for the trusted partners within their industry.

For more information, visit http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/10202011_2.xml