TOPICS
TOPICS
Investigation finds flaws in DHS export controls
Chemical and biological commodities are being shipped out of the United States - sometimes to countries of concern - without proper oversight by the Homeland Security Department, government investigators said this week.
The DHS inspector general's office assessed the Customs and Border Protection bureau's enforcement practices at U.S. ports of exit to determine if they effectively prevent the illegal export of chemical and biological commodities, also known as militarily sensitive technologies.
"CBP does not consistently enforce federal export licensing laws and regulations at all U.S. ports of exit," the IG said in its report. "CBP's ability to effectively and efficiently control exports licensed by [the departments of] State and Commerce is limited by inadequate information and staff resources."
The report was redacted by the IG's lawyers from 21 pages to seven, said office spokeswoman Tamara Faulkner. She said the report was a follow-up to one issued last year that made 16 recommendations, five of which remain unresolved. She declined to comment on the open recommendations.
The recent report recommended only that CBP evaluate its information requirements, staffing needs and consistency of enforcement practices, and make necessary adjustments to ensure that all enforcement responsibilities are accomplished.
CBP spokesman Patrick Jones said the IG did not find any major problems, given the recommendations. "If the IG found something egregious, then those recommendations don't reflect that at all," he said.
The IG found that CBP officers do not always check an export shipment against the license for it. For example, exporters generally give their licenses to the port of exit they are most likely to use for shipping. CBP personnel, however, do not always enter those licenses into the agency's Automated Export System. If the exporter uses another port, CBP officers sometimes cannot view the license before approving the shipment.
Jones said CBP officers are now being required to enter licenses into the automated system. Additionally, the agency has ordered field teams to monitor enforcement practices, he said.
COMMENTS
- As someone in the trenches with Customs and now ICE, I would like to say to "taxpayer" that the term "War on Drugs" is purely political. If the leadership of this country really wanted to declare "war", it would take a lot more resources than we have put into the fight so far. Customs, Border Patrol & ICE - maybe 20,000 total personnel actively on the line, checking passengers & cargo. DEA - maybe 5,000 agents worldwide. Plus a few more from the Coast Guard, etc. to stop drugs & terrorists coming in, not to mention what goes out. The total number of personnel is less than the NYPD, which only has to cover one city, let alone the whole USA and even the world, when you count our foreign offices. So you see, we never really declared war, because if we did, we would have hundreds of thousands of troops on our borders, and we would be searching a lot more than we do now. We wouldn't cave in to political correctness, but would do the right thing for this nation. Of course, the politicans, big business, the ACLU, etc. would never stand for that, so we'll keep on pretending we're doing something about this problem, while throwing a few more dollars at it for the benefit of the media. The only way to change it is to change demand, which requires parental involvement and education, combined with effective law enforcement. At least that's my opinion, after doing this for the past 25 years. GovExec.com reader Posted August 3, 2005 5:20 PM
- how could they stop the illegal flow of technologies and chemicals out of the country or into the country? They cannot even stop the flow of illegal drugs from foreign countries into the country! And we had the WAR ON DRUGS in operation for years. The WAR ON DRUGS wastes my money and so will the war on export of illegal substances that are for war. It is hard to fight something that the country is promoting. find out why the Afgan's continue to grow poppies and who encouraged the growth! As Pogo once said - we have met the enemy and they are US. taxpayer Posted July 28, 2005 7:11 AM
