November 28, 2000

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
U.S. House of Representatives
Rayburn Bldg #2263
Washington, DC 20515-0000

Dear Speaker Hastert:

The Joint Industry Group (JIG) is sending this letter to you and your colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding the importance international trade facilitation must have in the 107th Congress.

JIG is a member-driven coalition comprised of Fortune 500 companies, manufacturers, customs brokers, importers, exporters, trade associations, law firms, and accounting firms actively involved in international trade. JIG frequently engages the Congress and the Administration on a variety of international trade-related issues. We work particularly closely with the U.S. Customs Service and Congress to promote trade policy that effectively supports Customs' dual mission of border enforcement and trade facilitation.

U.S. business is encouraged by the movement in Congress to take seriously the positive impact that increasing international trade growth is having on the U.S. economy. Last year Congress demonstrated this commitment by appropriating funds for the U.S. Customs Service Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). This funding covers one year of the five-year ACE development cycle. ACE funding is a positive step to promote trade facilitation and is a springboard for further changes in the 107th Congress.

Automation is, however, just one vital piece to improving the movement of finished products and production inputs in the global economy. As global businesses move to re-engineer their supply chains, it has become apparent that Customs procedures and processes that have been in place for over 200 years need to be reviewed and simplified. E-commerce, just-in-time delivery, and streamlined supply chains are only a few modern business techniques that Customs procedures inadequately address, often at the expense of U.S. businesses, their employees, and their customers.

We strongly encourage the 107th Congress to make it a priority to ensure that Customs processes coincide with 21st century business practices. Congressional oversight will help to identify areas of inefficiency and discrepancy in the relationship between business and government and to develop quality-
based programs designed to promote supply chain and data reporting efficiencies. Difficulties we are encountering include:

· Costly delays at U.S. ports while Customs processes goods and documentation;
· Antiquated entry and payment processes;
· The inability of Customs headquarters to provide timely rulings;
· Post-entry procedures including compliance audits and assessments that are inconsistent with accepted business practice and result in lengthy delays in finalizing transactions; and,
· "Reasonable Care" requirements that are often vague.

We strongly support the Congress initiating a series of oversight hearings to bring together the Customs Service and the private sector to discuss these issues and propose legislative solutions that are designed for the global economy of the 21st century.

The Joint Industry Group thanks you for your attention and is prepared to assist the Congress in these efforts.

CC: The Honorable Raymond Kelly

3M
Ablondi, Foster, Sobin & Davidow, p.c.
Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg, LLP
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Agilent Technologies
Air Courier Conference of America
Airfreight Warehouse Corporation
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP
American Chemistry Council
American Electronics Association
American Institute for International Steel
American Iron and Steel Institute
Archer Daniels Midland Co.
Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn
Arter & Hadden
Arthur Andersen, LLP
Arthur Cherry Associates
Association of International Automobile Manufacturers
Baker & McKenzie
Barnes, Richardson & Colburn
Blasdel & Company
Border Trade Alliance
Broker Power, Inc.
Capstan Trade Systems
Case Corporation
Caterpillar Inc.
CNF Transportation
Compaq
Computer Sciences Corporation
Consolidated Freightways
Corning, Inc.
Deere & Company
Dorsey & Whitney
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
Elle International
Emery Customs Brokers
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.
Federal Express
Ford Motor Company
General Electric
General Motors Corporation
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Global Customs Advisors
Gottlieb & Pearson
Hapag-Lloyd America Inc.
Hewlett-Packard
Honeywell
Hoppel, Mayer & Coleman
Intel Corporation
International Business Machines
International Mass Retail Association
International Warehouse Logistics Association
Int'l Business-Government Counsellors
JBC International
Katten Muchin & Zavis
Kent & O'Connor
KPMG LLP
Law Offices of Stewart & Stewart
Levi Strauss & Co.
Lexmark International Inc.
Limited Distribution Services
Logicon/Northrup Grumman
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
MAERSK Sealand
Matsushita Electric Corporation
Mattel, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Miller & Company P.C.
Motorola, Inc.
National Association of Foreign Trade Zones
National Association of Manufacturers
National Retail Federation
Neville, Peterson & Williams
Next Level Communications
NextLinx Corporation
Northern Telecom
P&O Nedlloyd Limited
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association
Parker & Company
Patton Boggs
Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, LLP
PricewaterhouseCooopers LLP
Roadway Express, Inc.
Rockwell Collins, Inc.
Rode & Qualey
Ross & Hardies
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
Sara Lee Knit Products
Sea-Land Service, Inc.
Serko & Simon LLP, Customs & International Trade Lawyers
Shea & Gardner
Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal
Sony Electronics Inc.
Stein, Shostak, Shostak, & O'Hara
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Tech Data
Texas Instruments, Inc.
The Dow Chemical Company
The Procter & Gamble Distributing Co.
Tower Group International
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota Tsusho America
Unz & Company
Vastera
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Warner-Lambert Company
Washington International Insurance Co.
West Gulf Maritime Association
Weyerhaeuser

Material Copyright © 2000 Joint Industry Group