CBP Vision for Trusted Trader Includes PGA, Foreign Recognition
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- CBP hopes to eventually create a top tier of "Trusted Traders" that will help participants deal with foreign governments as well as other U.S. agencies at the border, said CBP's Cheryl Bryce, acting director of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), who spoke during the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 16. "I don't know how long this will take," but that "elite" group should see expedited trade with countries that are part of Mutual Recognition Arrangements with the U.S, she said. CBP is now testing a new "Trusted Trader" program that combines the C-TPAT supply chain security program with the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) import compliance program (see 14061320">14061320).
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The first phase of the Trusted Trader pilot is scheduled to end after in December and CBP will then evaluate the coordination of security and trade compliance under the program, said Bryce. Among the lessons so far is the need for more training of the supply chain security specialists "to better understand the vision of the Trusted Trader program," she said. Ahead of any major foreign component, CBP will create another tier for companies that are C-TPAT and ISA approved as well as "trusted partners" with the Participating Government Agencies, she said. That should allow participating importers to see faster processing by those agencies for goods that face additional attention at the border after CBP, she said.
The Department of Homeland Security is set to publish an outline of cost savings related to participation in C-TPAT, she said. CBP will make the cost efficiency information available partly in response to past Government Accountability Office concerns for the lack of well-defined benefits for program members, she said. The document was recently approved by DHS and will be published at the end of the year, said Bryce. "We have been a little bit asleep at the wheel" in terms of outlining C-TPAT benefits, she said. The agency is also working to update its internal "dashboard" that will be able to provide an overall view of C-TPAT shipments versus non-C-TPAT shipments.
While an update to the C-TPAT portal, called C-TPAT 2.0, was hoped to harmonize the program with a similar program in Canada, it's now clear that "the portal doesn't work," said Rich DiNucci, CBP executive director of Cargo Conveyance and Security. In May the agency realized that despite the harmonization efforts, the portal "may not work for everyone," including numerous other countries, Bryce said. The agency is now working with the industry "so you can tell us what you can see wrong with the system."