CBP, SAT/Aduana Mexico, Kansas City Southern Dedicate Unified Rail Cargo Processing Facility
U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) senior management, together with
counterparts from Servicio de Administracion Tributaria/Aduana Mexico, private
sector partners from Kansas City Southern (KCS) along with local Congressional
and municipal representatives gathered in Laredo today to formally dedicate a
processing building that will greatly help to facilitate CBP/SAT joint rail
operations in Laredo.
“The ongoing collaboration and partnership efforts between CBP, SAT/Aduana Mexico and Kansas City Southern have yielded an innovative approach to processing increased rail traffic through the largest rail corridor on the Southern Border in a way that helps both countries realize their security and facilitation priorities,” said CBP Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John Wagner, Office of Field Operations.
Located
close to the railhead of the Laredo International Rail Bridge, the rail
processing building dedicated today was constructed by KCS and enables Mexico
Customs officers to work collaboratively with CBP officers. The joint
operations allow Mexico Customs to complete their outbound inspections and CBP
to perform their inbound inspection processes simultaneously, eliminating
unnecessary delays and duplication while maintaining security and facilitating
lawful commerce.
The
joint operations are coupled with increased training and information sharing
designed to strengthen the effectiveness of security efforts while enhancing
understanding of private sector rail operations to help better facilitate
traffic flow. The collaborative efforts are designed to help refine security
while facilitating lawful commerce at a port of entry that has experienced a
16.5 percent increase in northbound rail traffic growth in 2017 and which is
poised for increased growth in the future.
Among
the key senior managers and dignitaries participating in the rail processing
building dedication were CBP Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John P. Wagner,
(A) Executive Director Sidney Aki, Director, Field Operations David P.
Higgerson, Laredo Field Office, Gerardo A. Suarez, Government of Mexico SAT/Aduana Mexico representative, U.S.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, City of Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, President and Chief
Executive Officer Patrick Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern and Vice President
Bernardo Ayala, Union Pacific.
For more information about CBP’s trade facilitation and trade enforcement efforts, click on the following link .
-CBP-
CBP Field
Operations at Laredo Field Office is part of Joint Task Force-West South Texas
Corridor, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat
transnational criminal organizations.
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland
Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's
borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping
terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of
U.S. laws.