U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the following documents on its "What's New" webpage regarding the C-TPAT and FAST programs (note that many of these documents have prior dates and appear to simply be reposted):
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has advised C-TPAT partners that effective March 1, 2012, the current International Organization for Standardization mechanical seal standard (ISO/PAS 17712) will be replaced with a new ISO standard -- ISO 17712:2010. CBP states companies are not expected to discard seals currently in stock. However, after companies have exhausted their current stock of high security seals, the agency recommends that companies purchase seals which are compliant with the new ISO standard.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted amended recommendations of COAC’s Global Supply Chain Security Land Border Subcommittee. The amended recommendations largely ask CBP to obtain input from affected stakeholders.
On January 26, 2012, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance Michael Camuñez discussed efforts to increase trade between the U.S. and Mexico, including some of the progress made to date on implementing the two country's May 2010 Joint Declaration on 21st Century Border Management.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the "final" facilitation recommendations of COAC's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Subcommittee. The final recommendations are the same as the “draft” recommendations posted in December 2011 in all respects but one; they newly suggest that a program to allow legitimate importers to voluntarily transmit an IPR indicator to CBP in the cargo release data set that links to a robust database should be explored in a working pilot. According to the Subcommittee, a valid IPR indicator would lower the IPR risk assessment for that shipment, segmenting risk for CBP and speeding release for the importer. COAC’s draft recommendations discussed such a program, but did not recommend a pilot.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on February 21, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Topics to be discussed at the meeting include Air Cargo Advance Screening, the one government at the border initiative, and IPR enforcement. There will be comment opportunities before and during the meeting. The registration deadline to attend or listen to the webcast of the meeting is February 17.
In a January 26, 2012 posting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection states it is currently spearheading two projects to modernize the role of the broker: (1) Broker Pre-Certification and (2) Broker Regulation Redesign. The key concepts of this initiative are to leverage broker relationships to extend the opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to be recognized as trusted partners, while also allowing for established “best practices” within the industry.
The White House has issued its “National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security”1 which focuses on the global network of transportation, postal, and shipping pathways, assets, and infrastructures by which goods are moved from the point of manufacture until they reach an end consumer, as well as supporting communications infrastructure and systems. The two goals of the Strategy are to: (i) promote the efficient and secure movement of goods and (ii) foster a resilient supply chain.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has recently revised information on its website to indicate that the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs) for the pharmaceuticals and electronics industries have been renamed as the "Industry Integration Center for Pharmaceuticals, Health & Chemicals CEE" and the "Information Technology and Consumer Electronics CEE" to show an upcoming expansion of their product scope. Sources add that the Pharmaceuticals CEE will be expanded to cover all chemicals and health equipment (e.g. wheelchairs). CBP also plans to create CEEs for an additional eight industries over the next three years.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a December 2011 update on its plans for land border cargo pre-inspection pilots in Mexico and Canada. According to its December 2011 update and CBP sources, the parameters of the Port Huron/Sarnia “Cargo Express” pilot are still under discussion, no decision has yet been made on the start date for the FOXCONN campus pilot in San Jeronimo, and Mexico has begun construction at the pre-inspection facility in Tijuana.