CBP Import Processing Times Were Unaffected by Pandemic, GAO Report Finds
The coronavirus pandemic did not noticeably affect the timeliness of CBP's processing and release of import shipments, a report from the Government Accountability Office found. The report, released on Sept. 14, was required by the the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) as part of the GAO's assignment to monitor and report on the federal response to the pandemic.
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GAO found that CBP responded effectively to the pandemic by changing working procedures, moving personnel and limiting personal contact to reduce COVID exposure by CBP personnel, but also benefited from trends outside the agency's control. "In the months before and after the pandemic's onset, CBP processed and released about 97 percent of shipments within 24 hours ... ."
CBP limited personnel shortages by prioritizing COVID safety, the report found. CBP limited person-to-person contact at some ports by mandating newer technology usage. One example cited by the study was CBP's requirement at the Port of Laredo for truckers to use CBP’s online payment system instead of cash.
Part of limiting exposure meant remote work for many import and entry specialists. Before the pandemic, many of those specialists regularly participated in on-site inspections of medical supplies, electronics and machinery. Their absence meant that uniformed CBP officers were required to facilitate inspections by sharing documents and photos electronically, which "made inspections more complex and caused some minor delays." However, the agency was able to shift more officers to cargo processing due to the relatively low passenger volumes during the pandemic. This process was helped by airlines actively shifting aircraft to cargo transport when air freight became a relatively less expensive option as ocean shipping rates soared.
One challenge was that CBP’s collection of customs user fees dropped sharply during the pandemic. Those fees covered 78% of eligible CBP expenses before the pandemic and fell to just 20% by 2021. The shortfall was largely covered by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which gave $840 million to CBP to cover funding gaps.
Processing times was only one aspect of the report, which also found that other import operations actually were hampered by the pandemic. Congestion at U.S. ports caused uncertainty about when shipments would be offloaded, leading more importers to submit entry filings after their shipments arrived and slowing some non-CBP port operations. Certain non-CBP operations such as document filing were substantially slowed by the pandemic because importers often waited to file until after cargo had been offloaded, a process that was significantly slowed by increased port congestion, CBP officials said. The percentage of entry filings submitted at least a day after arrival rose from 49% in March 2020 to 57% in December 2021, the report said.