Welcome regulatory changes are coming for two programs designed to ease U.S. Customs clearances by general aviation aircraft. Based on the successful results of a three-year evaluation program, the Customs Service has proposed making permanent its General Aviation Telephonic Entry (GATE) program–a voluntary program designed to facilitate customs processing of certain prequalified frequent travelers on preregistered general aviation aircraft arriving in the U.S. directly from Canada.
The service also proposes amending its regulations regarding the overflight program that exempts certain private aircraft reentering the U.S. from specified areas south of the country from the special landing requirements applicable to such aircraft. The proposed amendments will modify the application process to standardize and streamline the information required and to provide for centralized processing of requests for overflight privileges. “This will reduce the processing time of applications,” Customs officials said.
