DHS Urges Continued Use of SAFE Framework

The World Customs Organization should continue to use the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate (SAFE) Trade for e-commerce rather than create a set of entirely new standards for that purpose, said Christa Brzozowski, Department of Homeland Security deputy assistant secretary for trade and transport. Brzozowski spoke Monday on a panel about the WCO at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference. “We question whether there is value in creating sort of two distinct rules of the road, two distinct sets of tools for 'traditional flows' and 'e-commerce flows,'" she said. Instead, DHS would like to see the WCO “look and harken back to the bedrock principles of SAFE and not relitigate, not readjudicate, things we've spent a lot of time and effort to develop, but really try to identify those areas -- be it risk management, be it data, be it partnerships -- where the key characteristics of e-commerce and digitalization requires us to perhaps amend or update some of the compendium tools, ” Brzozowski said. There's also talk of a pilot to prevent counterfeiting and piracy, said Geodis’ Mary Jo Muoio. “This pilot is working with maritime transport industry to raise awareness, encourage them to know their customers" and “enhance their own risk profiling and information sharing” to prevent intellectual property rights violations, she said.