CBP Directs Radical Restructuring of COAC
CBP is embarking on a radical restructuring of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, directing all COAC subcommittees and workgroups to complete their work by the advisory body’s September meeting as the agency brings “all existing COAC subcommittees and related workgroups to a close,” according to an email obtained by International Trade Today.
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In the email addressed to all COAC working group members, CBP’s Lisa Beth Brown, acting executive director of the agency’s Office of Trade Relations, said that “much has changed since January 2025,” and said the agency is now focused on national security, protecting and promoting domestic industry, and closing “revenue and enforcement gaps” caused by unfair trade practices.
According to Brown, CBP periodically “has restructured COAC subcommittees and workgroups to align with priorities. It is time to do so again.”
Noting that “the convergence of challenges presented by domestic industry, policy considerations and technological opportunities are quickly reshaping the trade landscape,” Brown said that “it’s in everyone’s interest we have the agility and bandwidth to readily meet the emerging strategic issues in trade and national security.”
“For decades COAC has advised and offered recommendations to CBP on all matters involving the agency’s commercial operations,” Sandler Travis said on July 1 in an alert on the changes. “The committee holds public meetings each quarter to review progress by its three subcommittees (covering secure trade lanes, intelligent enforcement, and next generation trade facilitation), each of which incorporates a handful of workgroups that meet at more frequent intervals.”
CBP didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.