Washington, DC - U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced 29 tentative selections for new reimbursable services agreements through Section 559 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 to promote economic growth in cross-border trade and travel across the country.

These public-private partnerships in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington will allow approved private sector and state and local government entities to reimburse CBP for expanded services for incoming commercial and cargo traffic and international traveler arrivals.

“These partnerships are a critical element to managing the sustained growth in international trade and travel that we are experiencing,” said CBP Deputy Commissioner Kevin McAleenan. “Ports of entry where these agreements are currently in place have realized tangible benefits from these focused public-private partnerships in the form of reduced processing times and enhanced service.”

Since the program began in 2013, CBP has entered into agreements with 29 stakeholders, providing over 164,000 additional processing hours at the request of our partners—accounting for the processing of more than 4 million passengers and nearly 599,000 personal and commercial vehicles. 

The new agreements increase CBP’s ability to provide new or enhanced services on a reimbursable basis by creating partnerships with private sector and government entities. Reimbursable services under this authority include customs, agricultural processing, border security services, immigration inspection, and support services at ports of entry.

The statute maintains several limitations at CBP-serviced airports, including a cap of 10 reimbursable services agreements permitted per year and reimbursable services being limited to overtime costs and support services. These agreements will not replace existing services. 

The entities tentatively selected for these partnerships are:

In the air environment:

• A.B. Won Pat Guam International Airport;
• City of Charlotte Aviation Department (Charlotte Douglas International Airport);
• Copeca Jet Center (Rafael Hernandez Airport);
• Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District (Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport);
• Hawaii Department of Transportation (Honolulu International Airport);
• Jacksonville Aviation Authority (Jacksonville International Airport);
• Massachusetts Port Authority (Boston Logan International Airport); 
• Port of Oakland (Oakland International Airport);
• San Jose International Airport; and
• United Parcel Service (Spokane International Airport).

  In the land environment:

• New Mexico Economic Development Department (Santa Teresa, NM);
• Presidio International Port Authority (Presidio, TX);
• Southwest Arizona Port Users Association (San Luis II, AZ); and
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing (Otay Mesa, CA).

In the sea environment:

• Dole Fresh Fruit Company:
  • Freeport, TX;
  • Gulfport, MS;
  • Port Everglades, FL;
  • San Diego, CA; and
  • Wilmington, DE.
• East Coast Warehouse CES (Port of New York and New Jersey);
• Global Container Terminals USA (Port of New York and New Jersey);
• Gulftainer USA LLC (Cape Canaveral, FL);
• Kamino Air Import Corp. (Port of New York and New Jersey);
• Linea Peninsular, Inc. (Panama City, FL);
• Panama City Port Authority (Panama City, FL);
• Port of Galveston (Galveston, TX);
• Port of Oakland (Oakland, CA);
• Red Hook Container Terminal (Port of New York and New Jersey); and
• Salson Logistics (Port of New York and New Jersey).

The proposals were evaluated utilizing a rigorous, multi-layered process to ensure compatibility with CBP’s mission priorities.  

The reimbursable services authority is a key component of CBP’s Resource Optimization Strategy, and will allow CBP to provide new or expanded services at domestic ports of entry reimbursed by the partner entity.