ENFORCEMENT

Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator
With each small parcel seizure costing the U.S.
Government hundreds of dollars, improved or
alternative methods of interdiction are critical to efficient
customs processes. 9
A number of different methods may identify
improvements to interdiction practices. However, it
may be helpful to consider process optimization in the
small parcel environments as involving the interplay
of at least the following three areas of focus: (i) a
strategy to identify opportunities to improve dayto-day
operational efficiencies; (ii) an institutional
commitment to pursuing operational innovation; and
(iii) the adoption of advanced technological solutions
and the application of computer science techniques
to leverage insights and trends from “big data.”
The importance of advanced technological solutions
compels that we treat it as a stand-alone third prong
so that it may be fully developed in a strategic
manner. However, it is acknowledged that these
technology-based solutions must be fully integrated
in both operational models.
General improvements in “operational efficiency”—
also referred to as “operational excellence”—
should not be confused with “operational
innovation.”
Operational innovation facilitates entirely new ways
of carrying out activities that an entity performs.
Operational efficiency, on the other hand, utilizes
existing modes of operation to achieve higher
performance but without fundamentally changing
how that work gets accomplished.
See Michael Hammer, Michael, “Deep Change: How
Operational Innovation Can Transform Your Company,”
Harvard Business Review, (April 2004).
Operational Efficiency.
There exist opportunities to pursue enhanced
operational efficiencies to significantly streamline
Custom’s lengthy and time-consuming seizure process
(FIG 49). To reflect the shift in international shipping
from ocean shipping containers to small parcels, many
of the authorities currently in place must be reviewed
to determine how they may be dynamically applied to
current and anticipated shipping practices.
Interdiction and seizure procedures should be
continually assessed in order to identify and eliminate
inefficiencies on a timely basis. The express consignment
and international mail environments are not static and,
as a result, processes should be reviewed periodically
to avoid outdated procedures that could result in
productivity gaps. Accordingly, an opportunity exists
for CBP to engage in an agency-wide strategy setting
exercise to examine routine processes and procedures,
and identify opportunities to simplify each segment
within the interdiction and seizure framework, including
with assistance of advanced technological solutions to
minimize “frontline” parcel touch-points and “back office”
administrative processing. To the extent that solutions may
not be fully implemented due to perceived limitations and
obstacles—including, for example, the need for legislative
or regulatory reform—those constraints may be shared
with the IPEC for further consideration.
Additionally, CBP, in consultation with the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB), IPEC, and other
interested Federal agencies, must also consider whether
CBP staffing levels and user fees for customs inspection
services are sufficient to meet the demands of current
and anticipated shipping trends and risk analysis. Staffing
and user fee funding appropriately aligned with current
shipping trends and risk determinations would help
prevent illicit goods from entering the marketplace and
enable stakeholders to optimally align deterrence efforts.
Operational Innovation.
As a result of the dynamic shift to small parcels as a
favored method to move illicit merchandise, customs
authorities (domestically and internationally) must
rethink critical dimensions of the work performed, and
assess all opportunities to implement innovative new
ways of carrying out their respective mandates.
As one example of operational innovation, in FY 2015,
CBP began exploring an alternative to the traditional, full
seizure process in an effort to prevent more small parcels
with counterfeit and piratical merchandise from entering
the United States. Specifically, CBP collaborated with
its express consignment industry partners to develop
a simplified IPR enforcement process in the express
consignment environment through which CBP would
offer the importer and the U.S. consignee an option to
voluntarily abandon a shipment suspected of containing
counterfeit or pirated goods. 10
SECTION 3
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