Customs bureau merges trade activities into new office

The Customs and Border Protection agency is consolidating trade-related activities now in three separate offices under one roof, starting next month.

CBP's new Office of Trade will aim to better monitor trade and protect consumers from potential attacks through commerce. It will encompass work now completed in the offices of Strategic Trade, Regulations and Rulings, and Field Operations.

The Strategic Trade, and Regulations and Rulings offices will be fully integrated into the new Office of Trade, while only some field operations employees and managers will make the switch, said CBP Deputy Commissioner Deborah Spero.

The new trade office will import goods for inspection to ensure that textiles regulations are met, intellectual property rights are regarded and the Homeland Security Department's various agencies responsible for reviewing importers work together to respond to allegations of commercial fraud.

Despite lawmakers' recent calls to add trade inspectors to CBP, Spero said this transition will not accomplish that objective.

"This isn't about increasing resources; it's about utilizing resources more efficiently," she said.

In announcing the office's creation, CBP Commissioner Ralph Basham said the consolidation "can better align our resources" and praised Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, for working with the agency on the initiative.

Spero said the "somewhat stovepiped" functions now set to be unified will do away with occasionally duplicative tasks. While some managers and employees might be reporting to different superiors once the switch is complete, it will not force anyone to move to a new physical location, she said.

In its announcement, CBP said Dan Baldwin, the assistant commissioner for the to-be-defunct strategic trade division, will head up the new office.