Pact Signed to Hasten Cargo From Mexico Over Border, Keep Drugs Out

U. S. and Mexican customs officials signed a landmark agreement Thursday that promises to quicken and facilitate the inspection of commercial goods trucked in from Mexico, while also strengthening border drug controls.

The inspection agreement, first of its kind along the border, calls for officials from both countries to work with Mexican companies and advise them on how to package and load their goods on trucks to quicken the inspection. Mexican imports are trucked into California at the Otay Mesa border crossing near Tijuana International Airport.

Pact Is Unprecedented

The unprecedented agreement also requires the companies to submit invoices ahead of the shipment to customs officials from both countries. Invoices will be written in English and Spanish and will give officials an exact and accurate description of goods.

Allan J. Rappoport, district director of U. S. Customs in San Diego, initiated the plan last month with Mexican government officials and business leaders.

Advising Mexican companies on how to package their exports will make it easier for U. S. Customs officers to check for hidden drugs, Rappoport said.

On Thursday, Rappoport’s Mexican counterpart, Jose Ignacio Monge Rangel, and several Mexican businessmen praised Rappoport for coming up with the proposal.

A pilot program began Thursday involving a Mexican lumber company, Industrializadora y Madera Acevedo, S.A. Rappoport said the lumber industry was the first picked for the program and the Acevedo lumber company is the first business picked to work with customs officials from both countries.

“Our company is a pioneer on this project, and we are very proud of this,” said Victor Acevedo, president of the lumber company.

The new program will eventually affect dozens of maquiladoras, which assemble products near the border for export to the United States. The firms are usually owned and operated jointly by either U. S. and Mexican or Japanese and Mexican businesses.

Packaging Is the Key

According to U. S. Customs authorities, customs officers from both countries recently spent two days at the Acevedo lumber company to familiarize themselves with the operation. The officials then advised the company on the best way of packaging the lumber and loading it on trucks to hasten inspection.

Under the agreement, a new “Harmonized Code of Classifications” will use common wording on the invoices presented to customs officers from both countries.

Teams of U. S. Customs agents familiar with specific industries, teaming with supervisory personnel familiar with the inspection process, will work with Mexican customs officials and representatives from other Mexican industries to expand the agreement.

Rappoport called the agreement an “opportunity to use common sense to accomplish the speedy flow of merchandise and maintain a strong enforcement capability.”