NEI Associate Director Whittenburg to serve on USTR Africa Trade Advisory

NCBFAA Educational Institute (NEI) Associate Director Cynthia Whittenburg has been picked by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to serve a four-year term with the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa (TACA).

TACA serves as a key source of advice for the USTR in formulating U.S. trade and investment policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. “We look forward to benefiting from your experience and insights at this important juncture in U.S.-African trade relations,” said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in a letter accepting Whittenburg’s appointment.

Whittenburg joined NEI as Associate Director in July 2021 to promote and enhance the knowledge base and professionalism within this dynamic industry. Prior to that, she was Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner in Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade in Washington, D.C. NEI benefits from Whittenburg’s decades of experience with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where she served in senior roles in trade oversight.

NEI provides educational opportunities to the members of NCBFAA and the larger trade community in the areas of international trade, supply chain management, global logistics, customs brokerage, export transactions, transportation, attendant government regulation, and those areas of knowledge necessary to manage or advance a career path in a business providing services to those sectors.

At CBP’s Office of Trade, Whittenburg drove key enforcement strategies over priority trade areas including antidumping and countervailing duties, intellectual property rights, import safety, textiles, broker compliance, forced labor, and trade agreements.

She joined CBP 33 years ago as an import specialist in the Port of New Orleans. Since that time, her experiences include serving as a course developer/instructor at the CBP Field Operations Academy – Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; National Account Manager; Branch Chief of Entry, Summary and Drawback; Division Director for Trade Facilitation and Administration; and Director of ACE Business Transformation. Her executive experience with the Department of Homeland Security also includes two six-month temporary assignments as Acting Executive Director for CBP’s Budget Office and Acting Deputy Federal Security Director at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport for the Transportation Security Administration.