CBP has hired some 630 specialists since the transfer, but has yet to develop or use a risk-based staffing model to ensure there are enough personnel in the most vulnerable areas, nor has the agency used available inspection and interception data to evaluate the performance of the AQI program, the report said.
It said over a third of CBP agriculture specialists have been hired since the transfer, most of them in the last year.
The report said CBP and APHIS have difficulty sharing information such as key policy changes and urgent inspection alerts, and CBP has allowed the number and proficiency of agriculture canine units to decline.
Although APHIS is authorized to charge AQI user fees to cover program costs, GAO found that the agencies are unable to ensure that user fees cover AQI costs, and have had to use other funding sources to pay for the program.
Weaknesses in CBP’s new financial management system prevent CBP from providing APHIS with information on actual program costs by user-fee type, such as those paid by international air passengers, needed to set future user-fee rates, according to GAO.
Further, it said that in fiscal 2004 and 2005, APHIS did not transfer AQI funds to CBP as agreed to by both agencies, causing some ports of entry to reduce spending on inspection activities in fiscal 2005.
