U.S. Customs has had an advisory team in the islands since 1994. Since 9/11, with terrorism threatening to strike anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, the presence of border-security and law-enforcement advisors is more important than ever.

From the beginning, the U.S. Customs Advisory Team, or CAT, has worked closely with T&T's Customs and Excise (C&E) Division of the Ministry of Finance to advise on customs modernization and reform. This includes projects in training, enforcement, revenue collection, customer service, records automation, and organizational management. Because of 9/11, the pace of activity in all these areas picked up in FY 2002. CAT, along with advisory teams from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and the Internal Revenue Service, provided training in criminal investigative techniques, marine interdiction, port security and intelligence, canine enforcement, and rover (inspector) interdiction.

One of CAT's more prominent roles has been to establish the Joint Operations Command Centre. Working with T&T's customs administration; the Regiment, which is T&T's military land force; its coast guard; and its police force, CAT helped the islands open a command-and-control center that has been vital in monitoring local airspace and coastlines. The CAT provided the Centre's initial radars and continues to help in obtaining critical replacement components.

CAT helped start a marine interdiction unit by providing new vessels and staff training. In 2002, CAT delivered two 29-foot Phantom interceptors, and two larger, faster watercraft are awaiting delivery. This equipment will bolster narcotics-interdiction and border-security efforts.

In 2002 as well, CAT supplied three new drug dogs to supplement the four already there and provided advanced training for their humans.

In this era of globalization, the need for automation is more critical than ever in order to control burgeoning trade and passenger volumes, demands for faster processing of both, and to maximize limited resources to accomplish them. Working against that bottom line, CAT hooked up T&T to CAPERS, the Customs Asia Pacific Enforcement Reporting System, which is a secure, Internet-based network that allows communication with other nations' customs services. CAT is also helping C&E upgrade its current Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), which will be implemented over the next two years.

CAT has been able to measure some of its contributions over the last fiscal year in dollars and cents: Under CAT's technical guidance, the islands' Customs and Excise agency established container examination stations at major seaports in both islands. These stations collected significantly more revenue for the republic than ever before in C&E's history. Further, CAT has helped C&E recoup millions more in owed, unpaid customs duties. This is happening in part by helping C&E work through its backlog of overdue bonds, devising ways to stop fraud, and ensuring that cashiers' receipts remain safe and sound. CAT is also helping T&T's Inland Revenue Agency, the republic's version of our IRS, to detect fraudulent claims for refunds of the value-added tax on exports.

Finally, CAT has helped C&E's managers develop the agency's first-time-ever strategic plan for the years 2001 though 2005. The plan's key elements include establishing managerial oversight and accountability and facilitating compliant trade by creating an Office of Management Review and Planning. This office will develop SOPs (standard operating procedures) and a system of internal controls and review. C&E will also establish an internal affairs office to ensure both agency integrity and fairness in the disciplinary process, and a public affairs office to provide better customer service and communication with the trade.