Part 2 in a multi-part series about US Pre-Clearance for St. Maarten and the SXM Airport. Read what exactly is pre-clearance and what it involves in this second installment. A review.
PHILIPSBURG – What exactly is pre-clearance and what does it involve? StMaartenNews.com obtained answers to several pertinent questions from Clint Lamm, Director of the Preclearance Field Office. The information has been vetted by the American Customs and Border Protection Service. In other words: the information we present here comes from the horse’s mouth.
US Pre-clearance, the elusive facility the government wants to establish at Princess Juliana International Airport, is the posting of Customs and Border protection officers at foreign airports to inspect travelers and their goods prior to boarding US inbound flights. Effectively, this brings the American border to St. Maarten. Once the facility is in place – and that could still take some time – all customs, immigration and agriculture formalities are completed before takeoff. Upon arrival in America, the flight will be treated as domestic.
Currently, CBP pre-clearance operates sixteen locations in six different countries: Aruba, the Bahamas (since 1974!), Bermuda, Canada, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. In 2016, St. Maarten was identified as one of eleven potential destinations for the establishment of a pre-clearance facility.
While the government has named pre-clearance as a priority, Finance Minister Perry Geerlings made clear during a recent Council of Ministers press briefing that pre-clearance “has its place in the development of the airport.” The project is expensive, the minister said, pointing out that the government has to finalize a bilateral treaty with the United States and that tax exemptions have to be put in place for the more than 80 Americans who will be employed at the facility.
The investment in the pre-clearance facility has been estimated to be anywhere between $55 and $80 million – and the Americans are not paying for it. The operational costs have been estimated at between $8 and $10 million a year, while the expected increase in passengers flying through St. Maarten to the United States could at best increase by 100,000.
So what then, are the benefits of pre-clearance? According to Lamm, pre-cleared flights and passengers “can fly directly to hundreds of American airports, including locations where CBP does not have a footprint (like New York La Guardia and Washington Reagan National). Pre-cleared passengers do not have to pass through CBP inspection upon arrival and in most cases can bypass TSA-screening, resulting in shorter connection times and earlier arrival to final destinations.”
Airlines benefit too, Lamm stated. They’ll enjoy “increased predictability and improved flight performance. Travelers will benefit from seamless arrival and connection at their US destination. Safer flights, greater route options and improved traveler experience benefit everyone involved.”
In St. Maarten pre-clearance will be available to commercial and general aviation customers. This will support St. Maarten as a destination location for business, pleasure and transit, Lamm stated.
So what exactly will be done at the pre-clearance facility in St. Maarten? The CBP-officers will be able to identify potential security threats as well as inadmissible travelers and goods at the earliest possible opportunity. It enables the arrival of more travelers in the United States “while reducing congestion at some of the busiest airports like Atlanta, JFK-New York and Miami.”
Lamm remains vague in answering a question about the actual cost of pre-clearance, but one thing is clear: “Foreign airports must provide the facilities and certain equipment necessary for CBP to operate.”
Annual costs depend on a number of variables like facility design, flight schedules and hours, passenger volumes and adequate staffing.
The airport authority and CBP will have to come to an agreement about the design of the pre-clearance facility. It will not become US territory, Lamm stated. “The process will be voluntary for anyone desiring to travel on pre-cleared flights. Host country laws and regulations still apply.”
While Finance Minister Perry Geerlings has mentioned pre-clearance staff members in excess of eighty, Lamm stated that this number will depend on “the start-up and long-term models, flight schedules, passenger volume, operating hours, the process design and available resources.”
CBP will work with the airport to determine the optimal model for pre-clearance operations to maximize cost and operational efficiency.
The Americans who will work at the pre-clearance facility will obviously have to live somewhere on the island. St. Maarten will provide them with accredited legal status. The officers typically serve two-year tours on a location with a maximum of six years.
Lamm did not provide a clear answer to our question whether local customs and immigration officers will be able to work at the facility, suggesting that the answer is actually negative. “Pre-clearance facilitates close partnership and cooperation between CBP and host government authorities. We will work with the St. Maarten police, customs and immigration officers to support our mutual interest in airline safety, national security and international traveler facilitation,” the CBP-officer stated.
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Related articles:
Part 1 – The history of US Pre-Clearance for St. Maarten
Part 3 – The pros and cons of US Pre-Clearance for St. Maarten
