DHS moves forward on data exchange project; business groups object
owned and operated by a private-sector entity as a tool to improve risk assessments of ocean containers and identify cargoes that require the most inspection, Jackson said last June. It would collect large volumes of commercial-transaction data from all parties involved in the production and movement of international shipments. This presumably would include purchase orders and fulfillment schedules. The warehouse would collect information and data under the DHS’s Secure Filing Initiative for which a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is expected in several weeks, Chertoff said 15 November. He also said DHS is sensitive to industry needs. “We’re going to make sure that we address concerns about security and operational demands by proceeding forward in concrete steps,” Chertoff said.
Several large trade organizations, such as the Joint Industry Group, which represents importers, exporters, law firms, and other commercial entities involved in international trade, and the National Customs Broker and Forwarder Association of America, have expressed serious reservations about the project and its possible impact on commerce and security. “We approach GTX with great skepticism,” the brokers and forwarders wrote in a white paper. “Congress should communicate the same reaction and insist that certain key questions are addressed before a decision to proceed is made.” Both trade groups said sharing confidential business data with foreign governments in the exchange would be a problem not only in terms of protecting U.S. competitiveness but also for national security reasons because the data could be vulnerable to leaks. “What is being contemplated for the GTX is collection of large volumes of data,” said Jon Kent, Washington legislative affairs representative for the brokers and forwarders group. The need to share data is counterintuitive for logistics firms, most of which have a strong belief in the proprietary nature of their transactions, he said. “The last thing a logistics company wants is to have the sources of their merchandise made public,” Kent said. “They cannot feel comfortable if those things are given to a private-sector company.” DHS may be able to allay those fears by limiting the amount of data requested and offering benefits to companies that comply with the new data rules, he added.
Lipowicz notes that DHS is launching GTX at an awkward time, since the department also is attempting to implement the Secure Filing Initiative, under which CBP will demand more information from importers and cargo owners. There are questions about whether the global trade exchange will be redundant once that initiative is in place. “We are concerned that GTX may be duplicative,” Murray said. One of the puzzling aspects of GTX, several executives said, is why industry members have not been consulted on the project as they were on other trade initiatives, such as the Secure Filing Initiative, in which they have been closely involved with CBP. Kent told Lipowicz: “There is a lot of angst about the GTX.”
