LAREDO, Texas –U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced this week that 29-year veteran CBP/DHS executive Bradd Skinner has become the new permanent Assistant Director, Field Operations for Trade Operations at Laredo Field Office.
Bradd Skinner, Assistant Director of Field Operations, Trade Operations, Laredo Field Office
“I look forward to reconnecting with fellow federal partners and trade stakeholders in South Texas with whom I had interacted in my previous roles as Director of C-TPAT and Deputy Attaché, Mexico City,” Skinner said. As trade continues to grow in the region, our relationships with municipal governments and trade stakeholder groups to provide additional service and infrastructure via Section 559 and 560 partnerships are critical to keep trade flows moving while upholding our trade security mission,” Skinner said.
As Assistant Director of Field Operations, Trade Operations for Laredo Field Office, Skinner will oversee trade operations, including processing of commercial trucks, railcars, air carriers as well as entry specialist, import specialist operations at eight ports of entry extending from Brownsville to Del Rio, Texas. This also includes oversight of the Machinery Center of Excellence and Expertise in Laredo. The Laredo Field Office processes the largest amount of land-based commercial truck traffic in the United States with $162 billion in merchandise entering in FY2014 through the 23 crossings, six airports and one seaport which comprise the eight ports of entry.
In addition, in FY2014, CBP officers seized 110,253 pounds of narcotics valued at $437 million while processing 2.9 million commercial trucks, 55 million passengers and pedestrians and 75,983 buses within the Laredo Field Office.
Previously, Mr. Skinner worked for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Policy as the DHS Attaché to Canada. In this position he served as the representative of the Secretary of Homeland Security in Canada, provided support and advice to the U.S. Ambassador to Canada on issues falling within the DHS mission, and worked with Canadian counterparts on DHS policy initiatives, such as the Beyond the Border Perimeter Security Action Plan.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Skinner served for five years as the Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Customs – Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, commonly referred to as C-TPAT wherein he directed the efforts of 195 Supply Chain Security Specialists that travel throughout the world conducting supply chain validations in collaboration with 10,000 plus member companies which participate in the program. Mr. Skinner was also the Deputy CBP Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City where he was responsible for managing several trade and investigation programs.
He began his federal career as an Import Specialist, rose through the ranks and worked his way through a variety of progressively more responsible positions, finally achieving the position of Field National Import Specialist in 1997 during which he was responsible for issuing written and binding classification rulings. He has worked many different commodity lines, including electronics, textiles and food products, and was responsible for enforcing the laws and regulations of many different U.S. federal agencies. Starting in 1993 and for several years thereafter, Mr. Skinner served as a part of U.S. Customs team responsible for conducting training nationwide regarding the North America Free Trade Agreement, specifically those sections pertaining to Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures.
Mr. Skinner attended Ohio Wesleyan University where he graduated with Honors with a degree in International Business and Spanish.