REPORT ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES.

SEC. 1461. REPORT ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES. (a) Review and Report.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall— (1) review, in consultation with United States importers and other interested parties, including independent third parties selected by the Secretary for the purpose of conducting such review, customs procedures and related laws and regulations applicable to goods and commercial conveyances entering the United States; and114 STAT. 2172 (2) report to the Congress, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, on changes that should be made to reduce reporting and record retention requirements for commercial parties, specifically addressing changes needed to— (A) separate fully and remove the linkage between data reporting required to determine the admissibility and release of goods and data reporting for other purposes such as collection of revenue and statistics; (B) reduce to a minimum data required for determining the admissibility of goods and release of goods, consistent with the protection of public health, safety, or welfare, or achievement of other policy goals of the United States; (C) eliminate or find more efficient means of collecting data for other purposes that are unnecessary, overly burdensome, or redundant; and (D) enable the implementation, as soon as possible, of the import activity summary statement authorized by section 411 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1411) as a means of— (i) fully separating and removing the linkage between the functions of collecting revenue and statistics and the function of determining the admissibility of goods that must be performed for each shipment of goods entering the United States; and (ii) allowing for periodic, consolidated filing of data not required for determinations of admissibility. (b) Specific Matters.—In preparing the report required by subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall specifically report on the following: (1) Import procedures, including specific data items collected, that are required prior and subsequent to the release of goods or conveyances, identifying the rationale and legal basis for each procedure and data requirement, uses of data collected, and procedures or data requirements that could be eliminated, or deferred and consolidated into periodic reports such as the import activity summary statement. (2) The identity of data and factors necessary to determine whether physical inspections should be conducted. (3) The cost of data collection. (4) Potential alternative sources and methodologies for collecting data, taking into account the costs and other consequences to importers, exporters, carriers, and the Government of choosing alternative sources. (5) Recommended changes to the law, regulations of any agency, or other measures that would improve the efficiency of procedures and systems of the United States Government for regulating international trade, without compromising the effectiveness of procedures and systems required by law.