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Open Recommendations (20 total)

Southwest Border: Additional Guidance and Monitoring Needed to Improve CBP's Handling of Personal Property

GAO-24-106540
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The Chief of Border Patrol should develop a mechanism to monitor how sectors and facilities implement guidance for the handling of personal property. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Southwest Border: Additional Guidance and Monitoring Needed to Improve CBP's Handling of Personal Property

GAO-24-106540
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The Commissioner of CBP should ensure that upon release from CBP custody, individuals are provided written instructions explaining how to retrieve any lost or left behind personal property, including information specific to the facilities in which they were held. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
United States Customs and Border Protection The Chief of Border Patrol should issue clarifying guidance for the handling of personal property that defines key terms and concepts, including addressing the amount of property that sectors and facilities should collect and store, the types of property that may or may not be discarded, and steps for transferring and returning property. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Southwest Border: Additional Actions Needed to Address Cultural and Natural Resource Impacts from Barrier Construction

GAO-23-105443
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The Commissioner of CBP should document, jointly with Interior, a strategy to mitigate cultural and natural resource impacts from border barrier construction that defines agency roles and responsibilities for undertaking specific mitigation actions; identifies the costs, associated funding sources, and time frames necessary to implement them; and specifies when agencies are to consult with Tribes. (Recommendation 1)
Open
CBP agreed with this recommendation. We will update the status of the recommendation when we received additional information from the agency.
United States Customs and Border Protection The Commissioner of CBP, with input from Interior, DOD, Tribes, and stakeholders, should evaluate lessons learned from its prior assessments of potential impacts. (Recommendation 3)
Open
CBP agreed with this recommendation. We will update the status of the recommendation when we received additional information from the agency.

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Agencies Should Ensure Section 232 Exclusion Requests Are Needed and Duties Are Paid

GAO-23-105148
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The Commissioner of CBP should ensure that additional steps are taken, as appropriate, to recover the duties owed by importers as a result of invalid use of Section 232 exclusions, including for liquidated entries beyond CBP's 90-day re-liquidation period. (Recommendation 3)
Open
CBP concurred with GAO's recommendation. In commenting on the report, officials said that CBP's Office of Trade (OT) will issue guidance to the CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) on the appropriate steps to recover duties owed when an importer make any invalid use of Section 232 exclusions. For liquidated entries beyond CBP's 90-day re-liquidation period, CBP OT said it will evaluate its authority under 19 U.S.C. ? 1592(d), "Penalties for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence; Deprivation of lawful duties, taxes, or fees," to recover such duties, and issue appropriate guidance to OFO to use this authority when an importer exceeded approved quantities of Section 232 exclusions. In January 2024, CBP stated that OT and OFO are working to finalize guidance on recovering duties owed as a result of any type of invalid use, and that this guidance was being reviewed internally. CBP said this guidance includes separate approaches for: (1) duties owed on unliquidated entries; (2) duties owed on entries within the 90-day reliquidation window; (3) entries that are past CBP's reliquidation authority, and; (4) duties owed as a result of an importer exceeding its approved import quantity, using the 19 U.S.C. ? 1592(d) authority. CBP estimated that review of the draft guidance would be complete by March 2024.

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Agencies Should Ensure Section 232 Exclusion Requests Are Needed and Duties Are Paid

GAO-23-105148
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The Commissioner of CBP should ensure that controls are implemented either to prevent importers from exceeding the approved quantities of their Section 232 exclusions or to promptly assess duties owed because of overages before CBP's 90-day re-liquidation period expires. (Recommendation 4)
Open
CBP concurred with GAO's recommendation. In commenting on the report, officials said that CBP OT will issue updated guidance to OFO to ensure that duties are assessed on overages of Section 232 exclusions before CBP's 90- day re-liquidation period expires. In addition, they said CBP OT submitted a request for development of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entitled, "Automate the Inactivation of Section 232 Product Exclusions," that was entered on April 21, 2023, to the Product Management Committee, which will ensure that there are automated controls in place to prevent importers from exceeding the approved quantities of their Section 232 exclusions. CBP OT's request for development to automate these controls in ACE is the first step to determine the resources needed for this programming. In January 2024, CBP stated that due to funding constraints and competing agency priorities, the request to automate ACE's inactivation of Section 232 exclusions has not yet been funded. Instead, OT and OFO will create guidance on implementing a manual process to limit exclusion use when the exclusion reaches 95 percent of its approved quantity. CBP estimated that this would be complete by March 2024.

Customs and Border Protection: Actions Needed to Enhance Acquisition Management and Knowledge Sharing

GAO-23-105472
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The CBP Commissioner should ensure that the Component Acquisition Executive updates guidance to require that contracting officers be included in the development of information summarized in DHS's Acquisition Strategy Document, to ensure contracting officers have knowledge of and are involved in developing program-level acquisition strategies. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DHS agreed with this recommendation. In June 2024, CBP officials stated that the component is updating two key acquisition policy documents to reflect updates from DHS policy and provide additional CBP guidance to ensure contracting officers have knowledge of, and are involved in, developing program-level acquisition strategies. CBP officials expect the updates will be completed in early 2025. We will continue to follow-up on CBP's efforts to address this recommendation.
United States Customs and Border Protection The CBP Commissioner should ensure that the CBP Component Acquisition Executive updates acquisition guidance to require CBP to collect, analyze, and validate acquisition programs' lessons learned throughout the acquisition life cycle. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DHS agreed with this recommendation. In June 2024, CBP officials stated that the component is updating two key acquisition policy documents with guidance to ensure CBP collects, analyzes, and validates acquisition programs' lessons learned throughout the acquisition life cycle. The officials further stated that CBP acquisition officials have reviewed the current process for tracking lessons learned and made updates to the tracking file. CBP officials expect the policy updates will be completed in early 2025. We will continue to track CBP's efforts to address this recommendation.

Customs and Border Protection: Actions Needed to Enhance Acquisition Management and Knowledge Sharing

GAO-23-105472
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
United States Customs and Border Protection The CBP Commissioner should update acquisition guidance, such as the PLP Guide, to accurately reflect how key governance councils are conducting portfolio management. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DHS did not agree with this recommendation, but stated in its April 2023 response to our report that the CBP Office of Acquisitions would be taking action that we believe will address the intent of our recommendation. In June 2024, CBP officials said the component is updating two key acquisition policy documents to clarify the concept of portfolio management and how it should be executed within CBP. Per the officials, CBP's Office of Acquisitions is also determining whether updates are needed for CBP's established governance council charters. CBP officials expect the updates will be completed in early 2025. We will continue to follow-up on CBP's efforts to address this recommendation.
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