The upgraded CBP Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room will feature records and documents formerly only available through FOIA request. Documents and records responding to certain FOIA requests are now available at foia.cbp.gov. ( FOIA Reading Room )

“CBP is striving to boost agency transparency and accountability, while promoting efficiency and effectiveness through the use of technology,” said Acting Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern. “We hope the public will visit the Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room for the most direct access to information and to avoid the need to go through the FOIA request process.”

The border security agency follows FOIA requirements and makes four distinct categories of records available for public inspection and copying. Consequently, documents featured in the FOIA Electronic Reading Room will consist of final opinions and orders rendered in the adjudication of administrative cases; specific agency policy statements; certain administrative staff manuals; and various records disclosed in response to a FOIA request.

The CBP FOIA Division launched the upgraded Reading Room to proactively share information that includes policies and procedures, awarded contracts and grants, manuals and instructions, final opinions, common FOIA requests, and logs of FOIA requests received by the agency.

According to the CBP, the document is:

An easy-to-use summary of the most common non-textile duty preference programs administered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), entitled “Free Trade Agreement and Preferential Trade Legislation Comparison—Non-Textiles”, is now posted at the following link:

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/trade_programs/international_agreements/fta_comparison.ctt/fta_comparison.pdf

Its table-like structure highlights the programs’ many similarities and dissimilarities of the following non-textile duty preference programs: Australia FTA, AGOA, ATPA/ATPDEA, Bahrain FTA, CAFTA-DR, CBERA, CBTPA, Chile FTA, GSP, Israel FTA, Jordan FTA, Morocco FTA, NAFTA, Oman FTA, Peru TPA, and Singapore FTA.

The comparison document was conceived as a preference program tool; it includes citations to the General Notes and regulations, and is intended to complement, rather than displace these and other reference materials.

Additional resources are accessible from the International Agreements page of the CBP website. For best practices in utilizing free trade agreements, check out our white paper below.

Free Trade Agreement White Paper: Best Practices to Achieve the Next Level of Savings from Global Sourcing

Best Practices to Leverage Free Trade Agreements

This whitepaper will address five best practices that will allow your company to fully take advantage of FTA opportunities:

• Establish a Supplier Management Program
• Implement Multi-sourcing Data Visibility
• Manage Supplier Communications with an Automated Solicitation Process
• Automate the Qualification Process
• Expand your FTA Portfolio

Learn more by reading the Free Trade Agreement white paper.

Customs & Border Protection will be at the Pembina Community Center (112 Rolette Street, Pembina, ND) on September 16th from 12:30 – 4:30 pm to help the international trade community better understand the requirements for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The NAFTA training is for brokers, filers, importers, exporters and manufactures. The training will cover completion of the NAFTA certificate of origin, NAFTA qualifying operations, tariff shift, regional value content, and record keeping requirements.

The session will be provided free of charge. CBP asks that you RSVP with Import Specialist Kristina Nelson at (701) 825-6201 ext. 232 or kristina.nelson@dhs.gov by Friday, September 4.

Preferential Trade Agreement Webinar: Moving from Global Sourcing to Trade Agreement Management

In case you can’t make it to Pembina, check out our Free Trade Agreement webinar!

The next level of savings from a low-cost country sourcing strategy is in how a company can leverage trade agreements to reduce landed costs – specifically duties. Presenters address key findings from an industry survey on how companies are using trade agreements such as NAFTA and deliver best practices for your company to fully take advantage of additional FTA opportunities. View the entire webinar on-demand.