US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the largest agency within the Department of Homeland Security, has created the National Jones Act Division of Enforcement to enhance implementation of the Jones Act.
The new division, to be known by the acronym JADE, will be dedicated to making sure the 1920 Act is observed. The Act has been focus of some controversy in recent times.
It requires all cargo vessels on internal US routes – meaning the nation’s inland waterways or on routes between US ports (including ones beyond the contiguous 48 states) – must be US-built, US-flagged, US-owned and crewed by US citizens or resident aliens.
Calls for the requirements to be loosened have come from Hawaii, Alaska and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam, their main claim being that the Act unfairly inflates the cost of imported goods to those states and territories.
But security hawks and US maritime industry representatives say that now more than ever the Act must be preserved in light of the global terrorism threat.
JADE will be based in New Orleans and will be staffed by Jones Act experts, but precise details of their number, powers and remit have not been released.
