CBP's McAleenan Calls for Renewed Effort to Standardize Unique Identifiers
CBP Deputy Commissioner Kevin McAleenan issued a "call to action" to renew standardization efforts for entity and commodity unique identifiers during the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 2. McAleenan, who will take over as acting commissioner after the change in administration (see 1611090035), said an international effort to create unique identifier standards would lead to improved trade flows around the world. "Now is the right time to make it happen," he said. While identifier standards have been part of an "ongoing discussion for quite some," a unique identifier "is the key to modernized single windows and the key to effectively implementing our mutual recognition agreements," he said.
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The rapidly expanding world of e-commerce is at the forefront of CBP's considerations for the future, McAleenan said. CBP will increasingly look to use advance data, such as what's being used in the Air Cargo Advance Screening pilot program, he said. That pilot continues to move closer to finalization, he said. "We have finished the development of the new proposed regulations to make this approach permanent, and we will begin to work through the interagency process, which is multilayered," starting Dec. 3. McAleenan didn't indicate when the proposal would be officially released, though others previously have said a proposal should be ready by the spring of 2017 (see 1611020027). "As e-commerce grows, we will likewise grow from this framework to better operate, adapt and address the new challenges and complexities posed by this changing landscape," he said.