Sequestration is a result of a law passed by U.S. Congress that mandates indiscriminate reductions in the operating budget of the entire U.S. Government and its agencies, when an official budget has not been passed. Sequestration went into effect March 1st 2013 and will be in place until an official budget is passed by U.S. Congress. Based on reports from the agencies themselves, we believe the impact of this action will not be felt immediately, but will impact importations and exportations increasingly over the next several weeks and months should a budget not be passed. Each agency will have a differing level of impact based their current budget allocation.
U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP):
In implementing sequestration, CBP's priorities are:
- No degradation of the anti-terrorism mission
- Core processing of people and cargo
- Agriculture inspections
- Other front line missions
Reductions in overtime will happen immediately. This will begin to impact the timing of exams and scanning of cargo at some U.S. ports, and may result in additional demurrage and storage charges in the next week.
Beginning in early April all CBP employees will be required to take one unpaid day off every two weeks. This will have a cumulative effect on all operations throughout the year as backlogs are expected to increase over time at ports of entry. Clearance time at CBP may be delayed, wait times at the border will increase impacting truck and delivery times, and exams will be impacted by an additional 3-5 days.
U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA):
The agency does not expect to furlough any employees, and will address the shortfall in funding in other ways. FDA has indicated that exams may be affected by any delays in the CBP process and approval to move cargo to exam locations, but do not foresee any further impacts to the import or export process.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA):
The agency does not expect to furlough any employees, and will address the shortfall in funding in other ways. USDA has indicated that plant, meat, seed, and animal food exams may be affected by delays in the CBP process and approval to move cargo to exam locations. New USDA permit applications may also be affected if the sequestration continues for an extended period of time.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA):
The FAA has indicated that cuts in funding will require staffing to be reduced in the air traffic control stations in April. This may impact the availability of personnel to effectively route air traffic, specifically in the larger airport facilities in the U.S. Airlines have been advised and are working with the FAA to plan routes in this time frame accordingly. We are working with our airline partners to identify changes that may impact you and your business.
DHL Global Forwarding
As additional information becomes available DHL Global Forwarding will continue to work with you to assist in meeting your nosiness needs. If you have any questions, please contact your DHL Global Forwarding representative or chb.consulting@dhl.com. 
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