By Joe Rutland - Laredo Morning Times

Taking on a more aggressive position this year is one goal set forth by the Laredo Licensed U.S. Customs Brokers Association’s new leadership.

“We’ve always been relatively silent in the community and our presence is rarely felt outside of our membership,” said LLUSCBA president Jose D. Gonzalez.
“Now we’re working with other Texas brokers associations and the national customs brokers association, too.”

Gonzalez and Victor Gonzalez (no relation), vice president and legal counsel for LLUSCBA, were elected to lead this organization for 2010. The organization is one of many in Laredo that is dedicated to improving, advancing and adjusting international trade issues.
“We want to convey more information on trade issues that affect our industry to the City Council and the residents of Laredo,” Jose Gonzalez said.

“When our city leaders went down to look for more information on CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), they could have come to us and gained more valuable information. We feel we have the resources to be Laredo’s source for information on imports and exports.”

"We feel we have the resources to
be Laredo’s source for
information on imports and
exports.”
LLUSCBA PRESIDENT JOSE D. GONZALEZ

Victor Gonzalez said he hopes the LLUSCBA can be an intermediary between local brokers and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“What we do is see what issues our members are having with customs, whether it is procedural or substantive,” Victor Gonzalez
said.
“When something isn’t working, we can sit at a table with the port director or assistant port director at customs and we can work through some of these issues. We can expedite the clearing of imports and facilitate legitimate trade here in Laredo.”
The LLUSCBA was formed in 1946. The nonprofit organization was created in order to create a voice for the brokerage community. It serves more than 100 members and continues to help them support international trade moving through this region.
Educating his members is important for Jose Gonzalez. “The one thing that is vital to our association is education,” he said.
“We can go out and make a mistake and it’s critical to us. If we make a generic mistake on documentation, then it means we’re
subject to penalties.”
A big event on the LLUSCBA’s calendar is acting as host for the Texas Broker’s Conference on Oct. 7-9.
“We’re in the planning phase for this, so there will be more information to come,” Jose Gonzalez said.
“It is a big deal for us to host the conference in Laredo this year because we’re working with CBP. It looks like conference attendees may have the opportunity to take a supervised tour of select areas of the port.”
Victor Gonzalez said customs brokers generally from Texas attend the conference, but it is open to others.
“Speakers are lined up and they talk on different topics,” he said. “There is a general focus on statutory and regulatory changes
that affect brokers and importers.”

For more information,call (956) 722-9898 or visit their Web site at www.lluscba.org.
(Joe Rutland may bereached at 728-2529 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

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