SOUTH TEXAS – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at eight South Texas ports of entry upheld CBP’s border security mission while facilitating significant volumes of passenger, commercial traffic and trade imports during Fiscal Year 2014. Fiscal Year 2014 began October 1, 2013 and ended Sept. 30, 2014.
“Our CBP officers at South Texas ports of entry kept our country secure while facilitating a record $162 billion in trade imports during Fiscal Year 2014,” said Director, Field Operations David P. Higgerson, Laredo Field Office. “The increased use of trusted traveler and trader programs like SENTRI, FAST, use of Ready Lanes and increased staffing during peak periods under the Section 560 agreements with partners like the South Texas Assets Consortium have helped immensely to facilitate lawful trade and travel in our region.”
During FY 2014, CBP officers at eight ports of entry extending from Brownsville to Del Rio that comprise the Laredo Field Office facilitated the processing of 2.9 million commercial trucks, nearly 55 million passengers and pedestrians and 75,983 commercial buses. CBP officers in Laredo Field Office processed a total of $162 billion in imports in FY 2014, a 14 percent increase over the nearly $142 billion imports processed in FY 2013.
CBP’s Laredo Field Office’s partnership under Section 560 with the South Texas Assets Consortium provides new or enhanced port processing services on a reimbursable basis and is one of five agreements CBP has entered into on a national basis.
For more information on national statistics regarding trade and travel facilitation, please see the DHS 2014 Travel and Trade Statistics press release.