U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION ANNOUNCES 2016 PRECLEARANCE EXPANSION OPEN SEASON
June 3, 2016
On May 15, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the commencement of the 2016 Preclearance expansion open season, which is from May 15, 2016 to August 1, 2016. As part of this initiative, foreign airports interested in hosting a preclearance facility are invited to submit a letter detailing their interest in offering CBP preclearance operations. Submissions will be reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP, in coordination with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and other government stakeholders as required by the Preclearance Expansion Act of 2015, which was passed by Congress as part of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. At the conclusion of the open season, all applicants will then be evaluated and prioritized based upon each location’s potential benefit to national security, travel facilitation, and economic hardships.
This initiative is the first open season since 2014, at which time CBP identified ten priority locations as potential preclearance expansion sites. Those locations were: Brussels International Airport in Belgium, Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic, Narita International Airport in Japan, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, Oslo Gardermoen Airport in Norway, Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain, Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden, Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey, and London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport, both in the United Kingdom. Although all ten locations were listed as potential preclearance sites, to date, none have been approved by Congress as required by the PAA before expansion of preclearance operations may commence.
Foreign airports interested in preclearance expansion are invited to submit a letter to CBP at preclearance.expansion@cbp.dhs.gov expressing their interest in hosting preclearance operations before the 2016 initiative closes on August 1, 2016.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).
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