Customs' Reorganization

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Customs Service's progress in implementing its reorganization and modernization plan. GAO noted that Customs has: (1) reduced the number of headquarters positions by 233, 40 percent of its 1999 goal of 600 reductions; (2) closed its 7 regional offices and 42 district offices, replacing them with 20 Customs Management Centers; and (3) identified trade compliance, outbound, and passenger processes as three core business processes and has plans to define and redesign those processes.