Thursday, February 7, 2008

CBP Publishes C-TPAT Accomplishments for 2007

The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) initiative is designed to build cooperative government-business relationships that strengthen and improve the international supply chain and U.S. border security. Since its introduction in November 2001 with just seven importers, this program has seen significant growth to over 7000 members and has received widespread support throughout the trade community in the United States and our trading partners. With this support and the hiring of additional CBP officers and supply chain specialists, C-TPAT continues to achieve its mission, goals and objectives.

The following are some of the accomplishments of C-TPAT for 2007:

· Supply chain security specialists visited manufacturing and logistics facilities in 79 countries, representing some of the most terrorist prone and high-risk areas of the world.

· C-TPAT validated 3,011 supply chains, representing a 27 percent increase from 2006. Of the 3,011 validations conducted, 601 or 20 percent were revalidations. This was the first year that C-TPAT began re-verifying supply chains.

· C-TPAT certified 2,601 new members in accordance with SAFE Port Act requirements.

· C-TPAT Tier III status was granted to 17 companies as a result of the validation process.

· C-TPAT suspended or removed 112 companies from the program for security breeches or failure to meet C-TPAT's minimum-security criteria as revealed in the validation process. Of the 112 companies, 47 were either conditionally or fully reinstated in the C-TPAT program after they demonstrated to CBP's satisfaction that immediate and sustained corrective action had been taken.

· C-TPAT made progress on additional SAFE Port Act mandates including the development of a 3rd Party Validation pilot program.

· To enhance the supply chain security processes and procedures of its members, minimum-security criteria were issued for Mexican long haul carriers, U.S. and foreign-based marine port authority and terminal operators, foreign manufacturers and air carriers.

· C-TPAT signed a mutual recognition agreement with New Zealand’s Customs Service and established work plans with several other countries to achieve similar arrangements.

· C-TPAT participated in more than 100 conferences and seminars throughout the world.

· The University of Virginia conducted a survey on behalf of CBP to determine member's perceptions regarding the cost, benefits and motivations to join the program. The results demonstrated that C-TPAT has moved thousands of companies to provide closer scrutiny to the security of the goods they handle and to ensure that their overseas suppliers have implemented sound security practices.

As the new year begins, CBP continues its increased determination to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the U.S. and strengthen the relationships with the trade community and our foreign trading partners. Working with the trade community and foreign partners, CBP will continue to pursue the achievement of the mission, goals and objectives of C-TPAT. CBP is committed to:

· Conducting more validations and revalidations.
· Providing training opportunities to C-TPAT members.
· Requesting additional funds for hiring new employees, improving facilities and upgrading and acquiring new equipment.
· Enhancing air, sea and land border security measures.
· Improving communication, understanding and mechanisms for prevention of terrorism.



Be a part of this successful government-industry team by continuing your participation, support and vigilance in C-TPAT!

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