NORFOLK, Va. - The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Baltimore Field Office recently added several ports to its operational control — including one right here in Hampton Roads.
The Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News was among three ports transferred from the Atlanta Field Office to the Baltimore Field Office. This move marks the first time that the CBP has transferred any of its 328 port offices across the country from one field office to another since the agency's inception in 2003.
Along with the Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News, the Port of Richmond-Petersburg in Virginia and the Port of Charleston, West Virginia were also transferred to the Baltimore Field Office.
“The CBP employees working tirelessly at the Ports of Norfolk-Newport News, Richmond-Petersburg, and Charleston have successfully served the Atlanta Field Office with distinction for many years and I am absolutely confident that they will carry on that tradition of outstanding service to the Baltimore Field Office,” said Cheryl Davies, the acting CBP director of field operations for the Atlanta Field Office.
“This is an historic day for Customs and Border Protection because it is the first time that an Area Port is being transferred from one field office to another,” Director Stephen Maloney, the CBP's director of field operations for the Baltimore Field Office, said. “Bringing the Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News under the Baltimore Field Office allows for closer coordination of interagency trade enforcement and security operations within the Chesapeake Bay region. This is also good news for our trade and travel industry stakeholders because a unified approach to CBP inspections under one field office creates greater efficiencies in our communications. This is a great time for international trade and travel growth in the mid-Atlantic region and I am really excited for the bright future that lays ahead for us.”
According to the CBP, the Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News conducts trade enforcement and security operations in the Chesapeake Bay region while the Area Port of Baltimore conducts similar operations in the upper Chesapeake Bay region. Bringing Norfolk under the Baltimore Field Office allows for closer coordination of trade enforcement and security operations within this single maritime environment.
"This inter-port synergy allows CBP to help protect our nation’s economic vitality by mitigating any potential inbound threats while they are closer to sea than to our critical commercial port facilities," the CBP said in a release.
