02/12/2016
RE: Proposed elimination of on-site CES at Port of Miami
A proposal is being considered to eliminate the on-site container examination station (CES) facilities at the Port of Miami, subjecting the trade community to losing it’s only on-site CBP customs & CBP-agriculture examination options within the port, endangering certain types of agricultural and perishable importations, and subjecting even other non-agricultural product importations to mandatory forced re-exportation without possibility of manipulation for many inspections which can only be done at an on-site CES. Your immediate attention and consideration is required to help save the POM on-site CES site.
The Port of Miami has had an on-site CES since the 1980’s. Almost no one working in the trade community today remembers a time when there was not an on-site CES at the Port of Miami. For the last 20 years, Customs Inspection Processing Services (CIPS) has operated the on-Port CES as a dedicated examination station—meaning they do nothing else but examine containers as an independent company. As a company that does nothing else but inspections, they are able to turn containers around often in a matter of hours, opening early or staying late to accommodate critical shipments for clients under tight deadlines, with perishable cargo, or with cargo in-transit or with other special requirements. Twenty years ago the Port of Miami recruited the principals of CIPS to bid on the contract because they were trusted members of the trade community, no other company wanted to bid because of low profitability. It was seen as an absolutely necessary service to maintain and grow the Port.
Every few years a proposal surfaces, for any number of reasons, to eliminate an on-site Port of Miami CES. The trade community rises up to remind everyone of the importance of on-Port CES services, and demand that it stay. Moreover, during the past bidding cycles, CIPS has invested heavily to accommodate the ever-increasing physical requirements by CBP in order to stay at the Port and to continue to provide their unique service to importers and exporters alike. Now once again, on-site CES facilities are in danger of being eliminated, putting the Port of Miami at a competitive disadvantage with Port Everglades and other competing ports in the region and CIPS needs the trade community to express to the Port of Miami how important an on-site CES is to the business of Miami-Dade County. Almost all of CIPS’ rates remain the same now as they were in 1999.
The principals of CIPS, the Port of Miami’s current on-site operator, have been involved with CES and Customs operations since 1971. They, like of many of you, have seen what changes in Customs and international regulations have done to trade in Miami during transitions, and they know that without the versatility of having an on-site CES, entire businesses can sometimes be lost -- apart from the daily costs that CIPS saves the trade community right now. We never know what future international regulation could bring.
Please express to the Port of Miami, and our friends at CBP, the necessity of having a dedicated trade CES at the Port. Your voice is important now.
Please write Miami-Dade PortMiami directors and CBP to let them know that we need an on-site CES for trade examinations, some of which cannot be done off-Port, and that it is critical to your continued and future business growth at the port. An on-port CES avoids costly delays, avoids subjecting the trade community to losing solid wood packing material verifications for ALL categories of imported goods, avoids costly delays for certain types of agricultural and perishable importations, and frees many importations from costly mandatory forced re-exportations without manipulation for many inspections which can only be done at an on-site CES.
Again, your immediate action is required since decisions are being made right now.
Contacts this needs to reach:
: Port of Miami Tel: (305) 347-4844
PortMiami Director Juan Kuryla at: [email protected]
PortMiami Deputy Port Director Kevin Lynskey [email protected]
PortMiami Cargo Development: Eric Olafson - [email protected]
PortMiami Asst. Port Director Fred Wong Jr. [email protected]
Customs & Border Protection :
District Director Field Office, Diane Sabatino [email protected]
CBP Chief of Trade : Bruce Boswell - [email protected]
CBP acting Chief CBP-Agriculture - [email protected]
