GPA, CBP Agreement to Streamline Enforcement
Savannah, Ga. – June 28, 2012 – The Georgia Ports Authority and U.S. Customs and Border Protection signed a Mutual Operating Agreement (MOA) Thursday, enacting a five-year contract for CBP’s use of newly renovated offices and expanded examination space at the Garden City Terminal.
“The CBP plays a vital role in maintaining the security of the global supply chain, while ensuring the unimpeded flow of trade,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “This agreement will further our partnership toward the twin goals of maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation’s logistics network.”
The contract marks the opening of the CBP’s new centralized examination station at the Port of Savannah. The station brings the agency’s multiple activities under one roof, in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The new site will also provide space for other federal enforcement agencies.
“This new central examination station will enable us to align priorities, as well as link programs and operations to performance measures and mission critical goals,” said CBP Savannah Port Director Lisa Beth Brown. “By bringing CBP and other federal enforcement agencies together, it will strengthen our capability to conduct seamlessly coordinated operations.”
The GPA’s unique single-terminal container operation boosts CBP efficiency by allowing the location of its inspection facility on-site. Unlike other ports, the GPA coordinates the movement of containers for inspection, rather than requiring port customers to move the boxes to an off-site Customs and Border Protection station.
As the frontline border security agency, CBP’s first priority is to prevent terrorists or terrorist weapons from entering the country. CBP efforts include enforcing immigration, customs, trade, agricultural and other laws as part of its central mission. CBP ensures the integrity of agricultural imports by preventing the entry of diseased or adulterated food products. In the broader import market, the agency works to keep unsafe products out of the U.S. by working collaboratively with other government agencies. As a result of the new MOA, the CBP agents responsible for these multiple operations are now working in a single location.
On a national basis, the CBP manages 329 ports of entry out of 20 field offices. There are 139 Border Patrol stations within the 20 Sectors, with 31 permanent checkpoints. Agents in these offices protect more than 5,000 miles of border with Canada, 1,900 miles of border with Mexico, and 95,000 miles of shoreline. On a typical day in 2011, the CBP processed 64,483 truck, rail, and sea containers across the country, and 253,821 incoming privately-owned vehicles.
Further, the average day in 2011 saw the seizure of 13,717 pounds of drugs, $345,687 in undeclared or illicit currency, and 470 pest interceptions submitted to USDA at ports of entry across the U.S.
Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 352,000 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $18.5 billion in income, $66.9 billion in revenue and $2.5 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah was the second busiest U.S. container port for the export of American goods by tonnage in FY2011. It also handled 8.7 percent of the U.S. containerized cargo volume and 12.5 percent of all U.S. containerized exports in FY2011.
“The CBP plays a vital role in maintaining the security of the global supply chain, while ensuring the unimpeded flow of trade,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “This agreement will further our partnership toward the twin goals of maintaining the safety and reliability of the nation’s logistics network.”
The contract marks the opening of the CBP’s new centralized examination station at the Port of Savannah. The station brings the agency’s multiple activities under one roof, in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The new site will also provide space for other federal enforcement agencies.
“This new central examination station will enable us to align priorities, as well as link programs and operations to performance measures and mission critical goals,” said CBP Savannah Port Director Lisa Beth Brown. “By bringing CBP and other federal enforcement agencies together, it will strengthen our capability to conduct seamlessly coordinated operations.”
The GPA’s unique single-terminal container operation boosts CBP efficiency by allowing the location of its inspection facility on-site. Unlike other ports, the GPA coordinates the movement of containers for inspection, rather than requiring port customers to move the boxes to an off-site Customs and Border Protection station.
As the frontline border security agency, CBP’s first priority is to prevent terrorists or terrorist weapons from entering the country. CBP efforts include enforcing immigration, customs, trade, agricultural and other laws as part of its central mission. CBP ensures the integrity of agricultural imports by preventing the entry of diseased or adulterated food products. In the broader import market, the agency works to keep unsafe products out of the U.S. by working collaboratively with other government agencies. As a result of the new MOA, the CBP agents responsible for these multiple operations are now working in a single location.
On a national basis, the CBP manages 329 ports of entry out of 20 field offices. There are 139 Border Patrol stations within the 20 Sectors, with 31 permanent checkpoints. Agents in these offices protect more than 5,000 miles of border with Canada, 1,900 miles of border with Mexico, and 95,000 miles of shoreline. On a typical day in 2011, the CBP processed 64,483 truck, rail, and sea containers across the country, and 253,821 incoming privately-owned vehicles.
Further, the average day in 2011 saw the seizure of 13,717 pounds of drugs, $345,687 in undeclared or illicit currency, and 470 pest interceptions submitted to USDA at ports of entry across the U.S.
Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 352,000 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $18.5 billion in income, $66.9 billion in revenue and $2.5 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah was the second busiest U.S. container port for the export of American goods by tonnage in FY2011. It also handled 8.7 percent of the U.S. containerized cargo volume and 12.5 percent of all U.S. containerized exports in FY2011.