Hello,
I wanted to let you know about the impact of a potential sequester on cargo from what I have learned so far.
The sequester is a package of automatic spending cuts that is part of the Budget Control Act which was passed in August 2011. The cuts are projected to total $1.2 trillion and are scheduled to begin this Friday. Barring any compromise by Congress to avoid the cuts, the ones scheduled for 2013 totaling $109 billion will begin then.
So far, the TSA has not announced how the cuts will affect air cargo security enforcement. However initial predictions are that we will ultimately see its impact as passengers clearing security lines at airports.
CBP has been more active in communicating its planned cuts and says that they will be made equally across the agency with no preference by port of arrival. The first and most immediate cuts will be curtailing overtime for clearance personnel and then furloughs totaling 12 to 14 days that would begin after the first 30 days. The estimated cumulative impact could potentially be five-hour delays at land border crossings, passenger processing time may increase by about 50% and there will likely be an additional 5 days added to cargo inspections at ocean ports of entry.
CBP says that antiterrorism and security efforts will not be impacted. Passenger clearances will remain the first priority followed by cargo. Agricultural exams for incoming shipments should continue as usual. Also, there may be more risk-based calls made regarding other inspections and exams with less impact to trusted travelers and trusted traders. C-T PAT members will continue to receive priority treatment for exams when possible.
Non-mission critical expenditures such as travel and training for CBP employees will be curtailed but at this point we have received no information that this will have any impact on CBP and TSA leadership attending the upcoming air cargo 2013 conference.
I will keep you updated as new information is learned and hope that you will feel free to call me with any questions or comments.
Brandon Fried
The Airforwarders Association