EPA, PHMSA Join CTAC Efforts to Protect Americans' Health from Harmful Imports

The latest agencies to join the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the fight against imports that violate the public safety regulations are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

The two are now part of CBP’s Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC), which targets commercial shipments that pose potential threats to the health and safety of Americans.

Not only do illegal or non-compliant shipments pose a human health or environmental risk, but they also affect the companies that follow the law.

“Imports that do not meet the critical safeguards established in our nation’s environmental laws threaten public health and put companies that play by the rules at a disadvantage,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The total number of agencies that are now working together as part of CTAC to combat harmful imports has now been brought to seven.

The original CTAC partnership included the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and CBP.

"By working together to determine which shipments are high-risk, the CTAC helps the government better protect consumers," explained Allen Gina, assistant commissioner for CBP’s Office of International Trade. "At the same time, the CTAC helps eliminate unnecessary examinations and facilitates low-risk shipments, so everyone benefits."

PHMSA protects the American public and the environment through a national field investigation program that ensures compliance with federal regulations covering safe and secure movement of hazardous materials, such as fireworks, batteries and energy products, throughout the U.S. by all transportation modes, including the nation’s pipelines.

“We must continue to find innovative ways to work together and improve our abilities to protect communities,” said Dr. Magdy El-Sibaie, PHMSA associate administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety. “Participation in the Import Safety Center and working closely with other federal agencies adds a new and very important way to investigate hazardous materials shipments.”