CBP Officials Discuss Various C-TPAT Issues at August 3, 2006 COAC Meeting
During the August 3, 2006 meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials discussed, among other things, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).
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According to CBP's summary of the August 3, 2006 COAC meeting, as well as sources who attended the meeting, the following are highlights of the discussions relating to C-TPAT. (See ITT's Online Archives or 09/13/06 news, 06091305, for BP summary of CBP's summary of the August 3, 2006 COAC meeting.)
198 C-TPAT importers are eligible for Tier 3. According to CBP officials, there are currently 198 Tier 3 C-TPAT importers. Officials note that approximately one in five validated C-TPAT importers becomes eligible for Tier 3. (As of the May 16, 2006 COAC meeting, 154 C-TPAT importers were Tier 3.)
CBP has suspended 164 C-TPAT members, most of which were highway carriers. CBP officials state that they have suspended 164 members from the C-TPAT program, 111 of which were highway carriers.
CBP working on C-TPAT criteria for carriers and brokers. CBP officials expected C-TPAT minimum security criteria for rail carriers and foreign manufacturers to be finalized in August 2006. CBP officials state that they are still working on C-TPAT minimum security criteria for air carriers and would begin working on C-TPAT minimum security criteria for brokers after August 2006.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 08/31/06 news, 06083105, for BP summary announcing CBP's issuance of C-TPAT minimum security criteria for foreign manufacturers and rail carriers.)
CBP on track to meet its hiring target for supply chain security specialists. CBP currently has 125 permanent supply chain security specialists with 31 expected to be hired shortly. CBP states that it expects to meet its goal of having 156 supply chain security specialists by September 2006.
CBP has completed validations for 50% of certified C-TPAT members. CBP officials states that they have completed validations on 50% of the certified C-TPAT members and are on target to meet their goal of completing validations for 65% of the certified C-TPAT members by December 2006.
CBP officials state that they still plan to complete validations for 100% of certified C-TPAT members by December 31, 2007. At that point, CBP officials state that they will begin the re-validation process.
See future issues of ITT for additional summaries detailing the August 3, 2006 COAC meeting.