International Trade: U.S. Agencies Have Taken Some Steps, but Serious Impediments Remain to Restricting Trade in Burmese Rubies and Jadeite

DHS concurred with the recommendation. In response to the first part, CBP stated that in April 2010 it completed working on a tasking to develop and implement guidance to conduct post-entry reviews of importers' records. Then, at all ports of entry, it assessed entries of imported items subject to the JADE Act (as identified through CBP's systems) and verified, post release, that the entry documentation included the required certifications. CBP stated that all entries verified as part of this national assessment were in compliance with the importer and exporter certification requirements of the JADE Act. CBP stated that it will continue to enforce the JADE Act prohibitions (and associated conditions in CBP?s regulations) until its repeal. In response to the second part of GAO's recommendation, CBP stated that it conducts outreach to the public (which could include importers) by posting information on importing under the JADE Act at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/entry_summary/laws/public_law/. CBP stated that it responds to inquiries from the public at that website on a regular basis (which could include responding with guidance to importers). However, CBP stated that under direction from the National Security Council, other agencies of the U.S. government are better positioned to identify what the U.S. government will rely upon for verifiable evidence for this program. Once such standards are established, CBP stated that it will provide improved guidance to importers on the standards of verifiable evidence needed to certify articles are of non-Burmese origin. Until these standards are established, CBP continues to work alongside the other agencies of the U.S. government to implement the JADE Act within its scope of responsibilities and expertise.

State agreed with this recommendation and informed Congress on December 16, 2009, that in response to our report, it had undertaken these efforts and included findings from these analyses in its Semi-annual Report to Congress on Conditions in Burma (sent to Congress December 9, 2009). GAO has reviewed this semi-annual report and determined that in it, State has complied with our recommendation. For example, commenting on the efficacy, challenges, and difficulties faced in implementing measures under the JADE Act, State cautions that most of Burma's jadeite is exported to China, a large percentage of rubies are smuggled into Thailand, and that it is impossible to know how much of these resources are smuggled across its porous borders. In addition, State reports that the fact that heat treatment erases many of the unique geographic characteristics of a ruby, the way in which rubies are used in jewelry, and the low price tag the finished stones command all combine to make it ineffective from a cost perspective and in practical terms to chemically test the origin of the average ruby entering the U.S. market.