CSI study claims “security gap” in US-bound postal shipments
The Coalition of Services Industries (CSI) has released a study which claims to reveal a “security gap” caused by postal shipments into the US. The study, commissioned by CSI and authored by staff at Copenhagen Economics, claimed: “International postal operators, from the 10 countries surveyed, did not submit any advance electronic security data on packages flowing into the United States. In contrast, private express carriers submitted advance security information and did so for all packages shipped from those same countries to the US.”
Bruno Basalisco, Senior Economist at Copenhagen Economics, commented: “In 2014, at least 170m flats and small packages were shipped through postal operators worldwide into the U.S. and then to their final destination through the U.S. Postal Service.
“Items worth over $200 are by U.S. law, subject to duty, and the number of package shipments will continue growing as the rise of e-commerce endures; yet our study found that none of the international postal shipments surveyed submitted any electronic data detailing the items being sent. The lack of intelligence about postal packages crossing over America’s borders seems to represent a real security and public income protection risk.”
Peter Allgeier, President of CSI, added: “This lack of scrutiny is an open invitation to bad actors to send illegal goods into the US.”
Copenhagen Economics was engaged by CSI to assess how international posts and private express carriers are complying with customs and advance electronic security data submissions for packages and large envelopes inbound to the US. The study was completed in the first half of 2015 and, according to CSI, involved more than 200 shipments into the US from 10 countries that are key trading partners with the United States. Half of the sample was shipped via international postal operators and half by express carriers (e.g. FedEx, UPS).
The study also looked at the customs and duties collected on packages shipped into the US from both postal operators and private express carriers.
According to CSI: “The express carriers were found to have made customs declarations 98% of the time. International postal operators could not verify whether any customs declarations were submitted and $0 duties were collected.”
Basalisco added: “All shipments over $200 require a customs entry: while the private express carriers are complying, serious doubts emerge when looking into the international postal shipments.
“According to our estimates, the annual loss of public sector income due to not collecting customs fees is more than $1 billion.
The 10 countries included in the test were Argentina, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the UK. Each package included general consumer goods (e.g. jewelry, shoes, sunglasses) liable to duties and were sent by an independent merchant offering goods on an international basis.
Click here to access a PDF copy of the study.
