Shanghai :An investigative arm for the insurance industry says an improved system for sharing information is needed to combat the illegal exportation of luxury vehicles to China.
In the past, the National Insurance Crime Bureau worked with local police and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to catch people illegally moving luxury autos out of the United States.
But the 9-11 attacks changed that, with Customs creating a new export tracking system that the NICB was not allowed to access.
That, in turn, cut off important data from the federal government that the insurance industry could use to compare with its own records on stolen vehicles.
“We believe it’s ultimately the consumers that are hurt by the fact that this data check, or this database check, is not being done,” said Jim Schweitzer, president of the NICB.
U.S. Customs said in a statement it believes the insurance industry “should not be granted authorization” to receive bulk data from the federal agency.
But it added it’s working on a new information-sharing system that, when completed, the NICB can participate in.
