Global Trade Alert

A bill under consideration in the U.S. Congress would build upon the existing preclearance systems dealing with the commercial and security issues related to the entry of persons and goods into the United States. The House of Representatives approved the Preclearance Authorization Act of 2015 (H.R.998) on July 28, 2015. The bill awaits action in the Senate.
The bill would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance operations in a foreign country to:

• prevent terrorists, instruments of terrorism, and other security threats from entering the United States;
• prevent inadmissible persons from entering the United States;
• ensure merchandise destined for the United States complies with applicable U.S. customs laws; and
• ensure the prompt processing of persons eligible to travel to the United States.

It would direct the CBP Commissioner to:

• measure monthly the average customs processing time to enter the 25 U.S. airports with the highest volume of international travel;
• quarterly assess whether the average customs processing time for those airports significantly exceeds the average customs processing time to enter the United States through a preclearance operation; and
• provide Congress with a remediation plan for reducing that time in the event of an affirmative assessment.

It would direct the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), before commencement of CBP preclearance operations at an airport in a foreign country, to enter into an agreement requiring the country to adopt aviation security screening standards comparable to those of the United States.
It would direct the Administrator to require TSA rescreening in the United States of passengers and their property before they may deplane into sterile areas of U.S. airports if they have come from an airport in a foreign country that has failed to maintain security standards and protocols according to such an agreement.
It would require TSA rescreening also, before being permitted to board a domestic flight in the United States, of any passenger on a flight originating from a foreign airport with preclearance operations who is a selectee based on a check against a terrorist watch list.
It would prohibit the Secretary from entering into or renewing an agreement with a foreign country to establish or maintain CBP preclearance operations at an airport in that country unless it certifies that it:

• routinely submits information about lost and stolen passports of its citizens and nationals to INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Document database, or
• makes such information available to the United States through another comparable means of reporting.