Customs Establishes Import Safety Center

Customs and Border Protection is setting up a targeting center for import safety patterned after its facility to monitor cargo security, the agency announced Tuesday.

The safety of imported goods has come under question in the past two years, following revelations about tainted food and toys from China. The targeting center will allow closer coordination among federal agencies for more effective enforcement of a number of tougher import safety and food safety laws that Congress enacted over the past three years, said Dan Baldwin, Customs assistant commissioner for international trade,

The center will include inspectors from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service along with Customs personnel.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.