NTEU - National Treasury Employees Union
09/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/13/2024 13:02
NTEU Applauds Crackdown on Illegal Shipping Practices; Calls for More Staffing
WASHINGTON - Customs and Border Protection employees could block more international shipments of fentanyl under a new White House effort to crack down on drug traffickers and foreign shippers who are evading detection because of a loophole in the law.
NTEU, which represents CBP personnel at the ports of entry, supports the rulemaking announced todayby the Biden-Harris administration because it will subject more international packages to inspection, reduce the amount of deadly substances on the streets and protect American companies from illegal trade practices by foreign competitors. The administration said its goal is to end the abuse of the "de minimis" exemption in the law that allows so-called low-value packages to skip inspection when they arrive at the ports.
As the number of de minimis packages skyrocketed in recent years allowing illegal drugs to go undetected and commercial products to avoid tariffs, NTEU joined others in calling for the loophole to be closed.
"CBP Officers and Specialists want to do their job and they are frustrated that so many packages have been allowed to slip through," said NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald. "But closing the loophole alone is not enough. Congress needs to provide the funding for CBP to dramatically ramp up hiring so there are enough CBP Officers and other trade personnel on the job to handle the increasing workload."
CBP officials in April testified that the agency processes about 4 million de minimis packages per day, up from 2.8 million at the same point last year. The agency needs 5,850 additional CBP Officers and 3,946 more mission and operational support staff, according to its workload staffing model.
"The Biden-Harris administration has answered the call to help give our law enforcement personnel the tools they need to get the job done, but we hope Congress will follow up with legislation to permanently fix the problem and money to hire more CBP employees to staff the 328 ports of entry around the country," Greenwald said.
Earlier this week, NTEU Chapter 155 President and CBP Officer Heidi Tien joined Rep. Rosa DeLauro and othersurging President Biden to use his executive authority to address the abuse of the de minimis loophole.
NTEU represents employees in 35 federal agencies and offices.