In an effort to deal with its ever increasing backlog of license applications and agreements, DDTC announced on Friday that it was locking up all its licensing officers in their offices and throwing away the keys until the backlog was cleared. Well, not exactly.

Instead, DDTC said that the Response Team would handle all incoming calls. They also made clear that licensing officers won’t be picking up their phones anymore:

We ask that you refrain from contacting licensing officers directly, as voice mail messages will simply direct you to the Response Team.

While efforts to rein in the out-of-control and growing backlog problem are commendable, the prospect of being remitted to the euphemistically monikered “Response Team” is not exactly inviting. I suppose that “Response Team” isn’t completely inaccurate in the sense that “Responses” are provided; the problem is that these “Responses” are often wrong. I’m sure we all have anecdotes of erroneous information coming from the Response Team, but my current favorite involves a member of the team telling an overseas agent that he didn’t have to register as a broker because he was not a consignee of the goods involved!

Perhaps the ultimate goal here is that by denying access to the licensing teams, more license applications will be deficient from the outset and can simply be returned without further action by the staff.

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Copyright © 2006 Clif Burns. All Rights Reserved.
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