Educating Exporters on Benefits Crucial to Success of C-TPAT for Exports, Say Industry Officials
A major hurdle CBP will face in implementing a Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) for exports will be convincing industry that the program adds value, said industry and government officials at the Feb. 20 meeting of the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations. The COAC Trusted Trader Subcommittee spent the past few months reaching out to exporters to find out how to make C-TPAT for exports work. The lesson was that securing the supply chain isn’t enough; exporters will need to see tangible benefits before they sign on, they said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The subcommittee’s efforts included developing a frequently asked questions document to help the trade gauge its interest in C-TPAT for exports, gathering input from industry, and distilling the characteristics of exporters and best practices for CBP, said Bill Earle, a trade member of the COAC Trusted Trader Subcommittee. “What did we learn out of all this? What we heard from the trade was that the trade is going to be looking for benefits associated with any program like this,” said Earle.
Businesses that already participate in C-TPAT might be an easier sell. But exporters are for the most part “a distinctly different class from importers,” said Earle. “They have different operations, different expectations from the government, and the government has different relationships with them,” he said. “For example, some of the export entities told us they don’t really see a value proposition in securing the entire supply chain.”
The main benefit of C-TPAT for exports would be expedited entry overseas on the import side. For example, the European Union could tie C-TPAT for exports into their own Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program and allow for expedited entry for goods exported by a C-TPAT certified U.S. company. “You have to have a throughflow to the AEO program, so that when our U.S. exporter lands in the EU they find a clearer lane to the market,” said Earle.
Such a benefit might be a tough sell, so educating exporters on the potential benefits of C-TPAT for exports will be crucial, said Earle. “I think exporters really aren’t too into that, because they get it to the harbor and they push that product off and they don’t care where it goes,” said Earle. “It’s gone. They don’t realize that there’s another handshake on the other side that’s very important.”
CBP representative Todd Hoffman, director-cargo and conveyance security, agreed that education would be important to the success of C-TPAT for exports. “We need to develop some kind of document where we are selling the program, educating the trade on the scope and value of C-TPAT for exports,” said Hoffman. “That’s something that we need to get done. And we’ll continue to work with the subcommittee on defining the benefit package,” he said. “We understand that this is a voluntary program, and we have to ensure that we’re selling something the industry wants.”
Acting CBP Commissioner Thomas Winkowski speculated that the answer may be to roll out a streamlined version of C-TPAT with different requirements. “We shouldn’t restrict ourselves to the current C-TPAT viewpoint,” said Winkowski. “I think we have an opportunity here to create something different,” he said. “Exports are not imports, it’s a different ballgame.”
Winkowski suggested some type of trusted trader program “with a different set of standards than what we have for the import side.” He pointed out that many exporters already have security regimes. “They’re not at C-TPAT standards, but what I’m saying is we don’t really need C-TPAT,” said Winkowski. “We need something a lot lighter than that.” -- Brian Feito