CONGRESSIONAL BILL ON CBP PRECLEARANCE ADVANCES
August 17, 2015
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security announced plans to advance legislation requiring U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess the impact that any future preclearance facility will have on security, passengers, the economy and customs staffing at U.S. airports. The bill, H.R. 998, would add various notification and economic impact reporting requirements before CBP could open new preclearance facilities. For example, before opening any new preclearance facility, CBP would have to certify that at least one United States passenger carrier operates at the airport and that the establishment of a preclearance facility in a particular foreign country will not significantly increase customs processing times at airports in the United States.
CBP recently identified ten foreign airports as possible sites for future preclearance locations: Brussels Airport, Belgium; Punta Cana Airport, Dominican Republic; Narita International Airport, Japan; Amsterdam Airport Schipol, Netherlands; Oslo Airport, Norway; Madrid-Barajas Airport, Spain; Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden; Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Turkey; and London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport, United Kingdom.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).