Mexico, US Sign Accords on Customs and Border Cooperation
Mexico's finance secretary and CBP have signed a memorandum of understanding to fight fraud and contraband moving across the Mexico-U.S. border, as well as one that will create a joint cargo inspection. The actions, along with an agreement on agriculture, were announced March 26 at a joint press conference with the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray. Nielsen, speaking in Spanish, said the two countries are neighbors, allies and friends.
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The joint cargo inspection program will combine the cargo pre-inspection program and unified cargo processing programs. CBP and Mexico's Tax Administration Service have done numerous pilot programs along the U.S.-Mexico border for joint inspection of cargo by rail and by plane (see 1712050068).
This will increase efficiency "and avoid duplication of processes. Specifically, there will be only one review so that cargo can enter the United States from Mexico or vice versa," Videgaray said in Spanish. He pointed to successful pilot programs, such as the one at the Laredo, Texas, airport, where CBP and the Tax Administration Service work in concert. Mexico's agriculture minister also signed a letter of intent to establish areas of collaboration related to cross-border sales of agricultural products.
In a separate press conference, Nielsen and Mexico's Interior Minister Alfonso Navarette talked about the need to better control gun smuggling from the U.S. to Mexico, which Navarette said would reduce the levels of violence in Mexico. Nielsen and CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan were in Mexico City March 25-27.