Express Association Sets Priorities

The major companies in the express industry would like to see a higher value limit for goods eligible for informal customs entry, and a higher maximum level for articles that can be imported duty free, said Michael Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America.

The association, made up of express giants FedEx, UPS, TNT and DP DHL, is new on the Washington scene. The organization was chartered last September, but just now is taking a public stand.

Mullen said that one of the group’s top priorities is the reauthorization bill for Customs and Border Protection, now being drafted in the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees. He said that EAA would like to see a threshold higher than the current $2,000 value for informal entries. Importers are not required to post a bond for informal entries, and the customs inspector is responsible for classification.

The “de minimis” value for express shipments currently is $200. Below that value, shipments are considered so minor as to merit disregard. Mullen said the EAA would like to raise the limit to $800, to match the value of goods that a traveler can bring in to the country duty-free.

The EAA members also are working with the Transportation Security Administration to meet the congressional deadline next year to screen all air cargo shipped in passenger planes by 2012.

Mullen said that EAA supports TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program, which certifies company facilities to security-screen air shipments. The program has drawn fire from congressional Democrats, but Mullen said that such a program is necessary, and that express facilities provide adequate security for air cargo.

The four EAA members also are members of the Brussels-based Global Express Association. GEA is headed by former senior Treasury Department official John Simpson. Mullen said that GEA will continue to work on international issues for its members, while EAA will focus on U.S. issues.

Last year the EAA founding companies broke away from the Kansas City-based Express Delivery and Logistics Association. XLA represents some 40 express carriers, an official said, which include Purolator, Red Logistics, Midnite Express, and Sky Couriers.

Mullen is the former head of Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade Relations. A political appointee, he left Customs in January, and was appointed to his new job in February. He said that the new job “allows me to stay engaged in the issues of supply chain security and trade facilitation, which I found fascinating.”