Mexico to Soon Begin Pilot of its Own Supply Chain Security Program
On April 14, 2011 at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s annual Trade Symposium, the Director of Mexican Customs’ Secure Supply Chain Program discussed Mexico efforts to develop and pilot its Alliance for Secure Commerce (PACS, Programa Alianza para el Comercio Seguro), a supply chain security program. He also discussed Mexico’s Strategic Plan to fund infrastructure improvements.
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Mexico Seeks to Align PACS with C-TPAT and Other AEO Programs
Mexican Customs notes that in the PACS program, it has sought to align its security standards to those of other countries’ Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) programs (i.e, supply chain security programs), especially with the U.S.’ Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).
PACS to Initially be Limited to Exports, Certain Industries
According to Mexican Customs, PACS, which is still under development, is a voluntary program to strengthen the security of the supply chain through the implementation of a set of security standards in coordination with the private sector. In its first stage, PACS is being developed and implemented as a program for exports (i.e., an exportation scheme).
Although PACS would initially be limited to exports, Mexican Customs stated that it has plans to expand it to include other trade participants, including highway carriers and brokers, in the future.
Under PACS, the participant companies will be from selected industries including aerospace, electronics, and automotive. (These initial industries were selected because Mexico has many companies within those sectors that already meet existing international security requirements or have international security programs in place.)
According to Mexican Customs, the benefits of having a program like PACS is that it will (i) reduce compliance costs for the trade; (ii) allow for more effective and efficient targeting of high risk shipments; and (iii) build greater confidence in mutual recognition among customs administrations.
PACS Pilot to Begin end of April/Early May 2011
A Mexican Customs--private sector working group which was created to work on the implementation of PACS held its first meeting on March 17, 2011. The group’s private sector members are comprised of trade stakeholders such as -- importers, exporters, brokers, carriers, etc.
The purpose of the working group is to:
- participate in the development of the PACS pilot program;
- identify needs and present initiatives especially related to the benefits and scope of PACS; and
- act as a vehicle for transmitting precise and legitimate information to the private sector regarding PACS.
Mexico’s PACS pilot will begin at the end of April 2011/beginning of May 2011 with companies that have already been accepted into the program from certain sectors including aerospace, electronics, and automotive.
Mexico’s 2007-2012 Strategic Plan Provides Funding for Infrastructure Improvements
According to Mexican Customs, Mexico’s 2007-2012 strategic plan includes over $1.4 billion in investments in infrastructure and equipment that will benefit trade. Mexico has also recently undertaken several initiatives with stakeholders to achieve tangible benefits (i.e., expedited processing and release of shipments, prioritization of non-intrusive inspection (NII) inspections when physical exam needed, priority treatment in post-incident business resumption in trade recovery programs, and mutual recognition of AEO status by customs administrations).
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/20/10 news, 10122030, for BP summary of U.S.-Mexico work on cargo pre-clearance pilot, C-TPAT-like program for Mexico.
See ITT’s Online Archives or 03/12/10 news, 10031210, for BP summary of an update on C-TPAT mutual recognition, including Mexico’s plans for its own industry partnership program.)