The president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America said U.S. business would suffer if the Bush administration and Congress fail to rapidly renew the Generalized System of Preferences trade promotion program.

In a letter to Marideth J. Sandler, executive director of the program for the U.S. Trade Representative, NCBFAA President Mary Jo Muoio called on the White House to work closely with Congress "to ensure a timely, long-term renewal" of the program that grants duty-free entry to exports from developing nations.

"The delayed, sporadic and uncertain renewals of the past were very damaging to many U.S. businesses and counterproductive to the goals of the GSP program," Muoio wrote. "The financial and administrative burdens created by lapses in the GSP program are a serious drain on individual companies and we hope you will utilize every resource to assure a timely renewal of the program."

Muoio cautioned against removing countries such as Brazil or India from the program, saying it would cause serious hardship for these countries without guaranteeing that American businesses will switch suppliers from a larger GSP country to a least-developed one.

"In fact, the least developed countries often lack the production capability as well as the infrastructure to become a reliable source for many products now sourced from Brazil, India or one of the other larger beneficiary countries," she observed. "A decision to remove one of these countries is essentially a lose-lose proposition."

Muoio said the effect of removing these countries from GSP will be felt by U.S. companies that source from these participants as well as by consumers who will have to pay higher prices when duties are imposed.

"We believe Brazil, India and the other countries you have identified for review are essential to GSP and should remain in the program," she wrote.

Some companies rely on GSP to remain competitive and profitable in increasingly tight markets; Muoio urged a speedy review to allow U.S. companies time to make adjustments.

The NCBFAA, based in Washington, represents forwarders, customs brokers, ocean transportation intermediaries, NVOCCs and air cargo agents.