CBP's validations of companies applying for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program appears to be declining year to year, according to a list of C-TPAT program achievements released by the agency. While there's still time for 2013 to catch up to past years in terms of the number of validations, if validations this year continue at the current pace, they will be about half of the total validations completed in 2012. Through June 3, CBP has validated a total of 616 C-TPAT applicants, which includes 172 initial validations and 444 revalidations, said CBP. Last year, there were a total of 2,376 validations, including 640 initial validations and 1,736 revalidations, the report said. CBP didn't comment.
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The Food and Drug Administration needs to do more to use the trusted trader model to manage food safety risks, said the American Association of Exporters and Importers. “Moving away from certifying individual transactions to certifying supply chains allows FDA and industry to focus supply chain security resources more effectively, thereby targeting high-risk operators and supply chains,” said AAEI in comments on FDA’s Jan. 16 preventative controls proposal (see 13010429). “Trusted traders are industry leaders in their respective trade as well as leaders in supply chain security and compliance,” AAEI said. “They represent low risk and should not be subjected to the same level or type of oversight as others not so designated.”
CBP is working with other government agencies "to evaluate the possibility of expanding the [Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism] program to include U.S. exporters," the agency said in a fact sheet on the C-TPAT program. CBP is also working to partner with other agencies to "exchange common program information, metrics, and operational lessons in an effort to identify opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce redundancy within their respective trusted trader programs to ultimately streamline the process," it said.
The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) should be allowed to review results of a trusted trader pilot combining the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) before the agency issues the final trader program requirements, the group said in a recommendation to CBP at the May 22 COAC meeting. The COAC trusted trader subcommittee said the group should get a chance to provide input on the program "in its entirety" before COAC decides whether to endorse the program, the recommendation said. There's some uncertainty within the trusted trader subcommittee of the COAC over plans to combine, said COAC member George Weise from Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services during the meeting.
Industry representatives commended the Senate customs reauthorization bill in its first formal hearing May 22, and said the bill’s provisions on intellectual property rights, the Automated Commercial Environment, the International Trade Data System and de minimis will go a long way towards facilitating trade. The bill -- S-662, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act -- was introduced by Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in March (see 13032906 for more on specific provisions in the bill).
CBP is requesting comments by July 22 for an existing information collection for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with a change to the burden hours.
CBP is planning to initiate a pilot program that consolidates its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Importer Self Assessment (ISA) trusted trader programs by September, said an update on trusted trader programs released ahead of the May 22 Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of CBP (COAC). CBP has said its plans for the combined trusted trader programs would allow for a single validation and management approach (see 12120321). The executive summary is (here).
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CBP offered advice to members of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program on how to handle reports of suspicious activities, anomalies, and security breaches. C-TPAT members should report such issues prior to CBP discovery to avoid possible suspension, it said. "Reporting a breach would result in an immediate joint review of the totality of circumstances," it said.