CBP & the EU Sign C-TPAT Mutual Recognition
CBP Acting Commissioner David V. Aguilar and Director-General Heinz Zourek, European Union Taxation and Customs Union Directorate (TAXUD) signed the decision, which recognizes compatibility between the EU and the U.S. cargo security programs. The signing marks a milestone in the CBP-EU relationship, completing the original U.S.-EU work program. In the future, both customs authorities will treat members of the other customs authority the same way it treats its own program members.
“I can look back with pride on the considerable work that was completed by CBP and TAXUD to make this effort come to fruition and that we always maintained the necessary focus on security throughout the process,” said Acting Commissioner Aguilar.
“Today's decision on the mutual recognition of the EU and U.S. trade partnership programmes is a win-win achievement: It will save time and money for trusted operators on both sides of the Atlantic while it will allow customs authorities to concentrate their resources on risky consignments and better facilitate legitimate trade,” said Director-General Zourek.
C-TPAT is a voluntary government-business initiative to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and U.S. border security. C-TPAT recognized that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can provide the highest level of cargo security only through close cooperation with the ultimate owners of the international supply chain such as importers, carriers, consolidators, licensed customs brokers, and manufacturers.
AEO is a foreign partnership program that is used as a risk-assessment tool, provides less redundancy and duplication efforts, helps provide a common standard for trade facilitation, and allows for better transparency by providing closer collaboration among Customs Administrations and between Customs administrations and their partnership program companies.
U.S. Customs Released a Survey on the Costs and Savings of C-TPAT
On March 6th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a Survey on the Costs & Savings of participating in C-TPAT. This report covers the 2011 C-TPAT Costs & Savings Survey (CSS), which was a follow-up to the 2010 Membership Survey. The 2011 CSS is a drill-down view of the detailed costs and savings experiences of a sample of C-TPAT members. The CSS was developed and executed separately from the larger membership survey that was done in 2010.
Download the 2011 C-TPAT Costs & Savings Survey.
New ISO 17712:2010 High Security Seal Standard
Effective March 1, 2012, the current International Organization for Standardization (ISO) mechanical seal standard (ISO/PAS 17712) will be replaced with a new ISO standard--ISO 17712:2010. According to C-TPAT, companies are not expected to discard seals currently in stock. However, after companies have exhausted their current stock of high security seals, it is recommended by CBP that companies purchase seals, which are compliant with the new ISO 17712:2010 standard.
The new standard compliance requirements:
Testing to determine a seal’s classification for physical strength (as a barrier of entry).
Process auditing of the manufacturer’s security-related business practices.
Testing (pass/fail) of a seal’s ability to indicate evidence of tampering.
A new 18mm minimum width diameter for bolt seals.
Reduced possibility of cargo theft or tampering.
Reduced possibility of unauthorized material being inserted into containers or other instruments of international traffic (IIT).
Reducing shipping delays that result when seals are missing or broken.
When inspecting seals for signs of tampering, tamper-evident seals should allow personnel, with the appropriate training, to detect compromised seals easier.
Prior to purchasing new high security seals, request documentation (a lab report) from the seal vendor confirming that the seals are ISO 17712:2010 compliant.
Third Generation of the ISO 17712
The ISO 17712:2010 standard was first published in September 2010 and included an 18-month transition period (to March 2012) to deal with technical issues. The new standard is the third generation of 17712. The first was a Publically Available Specification (PAS) published in 2003 and the second was a revision to PAS 17712 published in 2006. Each revision builds on previous requirements.