CBP Moving to Automated Filing System for Used-Car Exports, Swanson Says

CBP is starting to automate filings on used-car exports, a move that will help it more efficiently regulate an industry that has been “heavily infiltrated” by international criminal organizations, said Jim Swanson, director of CBP’s cargo and conveyance security and controls division. Swanson said CBP will move from a paper-based to an electronic-based filing system for used-car exports, which will allow the agency to verify or prohibit certain exports more quickly and accurately, abandoning an old method that sometimes resulted in original car titles getting lost.

“All that documentation gets to be a real pain,” Swanson said, adding that too much emphasis was placed on CBP officials sifting through filings. “We need to take some of the burden off our officers.”

Swanson said CBP has created a prototype for the new filing system “on a very limited basis … at a couple of ports.” He added that there are no plans for new regulations yet, saying he believes a potential pilot program can operate under current regulations. “We’re working on moving that forward as an actual pilot,” Swanson said, “as opposed to just a limited prototype we've been doing to this point.” Swanson did not give a specific time frame for when the pilot program would start.

CBP has pinpointed the used-car industry for this project because of its potential impact: Stolen vehicles are often exported from the U.S. with fake titles, Swanson said, and then sold overseas to fund criminal organizations. Swanson pointed to Boko Haram, a West African terrorist group he said has been partially funded from used-car exports. “It doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal,” he said, “but it's a massive international business.”

Swanson suggested the physical filing system currently in place for used-car exports is outdated. Along with requiring exporters to submit the original car title 72 hours before the car is shipped, CBP also verifies that no party involved in the transaction is associated with criminal organizations and checks with the National Crime Information Center to make sure the car isn’t stolen. With an automated system, Swanson said, exporters will file their car titles electronically with their Automated Export System submission. Ultimately, Swanson hopes CBP will use all the electronic documents that are filed, including the vehicle identification number, “to run all the checks at the same time.”

Swanson also said some CBP employees are specifically dedicated to collecting paperwork and returning documents to the sender, leading to an inefficient system. “We've got bodies just sitting there moving titles around,” Swanson said. With the new program, CBP is hoping to free up time and resources. “We’re focusing on it,” Swanson said. “It's eaten up a lot of our resources over the last 10 or 15 years.”