#TurksandCaicos, August 18, 2023 – The Postmaster General, Mrs. Elizabeth James and Postal Clerk, Ms. Stephanie Henfield attended an Electronic Advance Data (EAD), Customs Declaration System and Postal Security Workshop held in Miami, Florida from the 7th to 11th August 2023. The workshop was facilitated by the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
Mrs. James attended the security aspect of the workshop while Ms. Henfield attended the Electronic Advance Data (EAD), Customs Declaration aspect of the workshop.
The security aspect of the workshop covered the following issues:
- The US Customs and Border Protection collaboration with the Postal Sector,
- The World Customs Organization (WCO) and UPU collaboration,
- Security certification status by region,
- Challenges and best practices: postal security best practices and,
- Developing functional risk assessments.
The Electronic Advance Data, Customs Declaration System aspect of the workshop covered the following issues:
- Universal Postal Union regulatory requirements,
- Review of EAD exchanges in the Caribbean and Latin America and,
- Challenges and best practices: success stories in the Caribbean region.
The purpose of the EAD workshop was to provide designated postal operators of Latin America and Caribbean regions with the training and resources needed to meet the 100% EAD requirement.
The workshop was attended by representatives from forty-five (45) countries including the United States of America (USA), Canada, Switzerland, Spain, France, Portugal, Japan, Panama, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Trinidad, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Aruba, Saint Martins, Martinique, Guadalupe, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, French Guyana, Curacao
The Postmaster General took the opportunity to hold discussions and developed a rapport with Mr. Daniel Alonso – Port Director, US Customs and Border Protection, Miami International Airport; Mr. Gary Barksdale – Chief Postal Inspector, US Postal Inspection Service and Ms. Astrid Heiter of the Compliance and Enforcement Sub Directorate of the World Customs Organisation.
Mrs. James expressed her gratitude to the United States Postal Service and the Universal Postal Union for the opportunity to attend such an important workshop. The Postmaster also commented that “the workshop was very timely and useful to the Turks and Caicos Islands Postal Services and the knowledge gained will help to improve the security of the Postal Services, including the flow of inbound and outbound mail and compliance with the Electronic Data Advance System.”