The work is ongoing toward making some significant updates to the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, but there's been serious progress in recent months, said Elizabeth Schmelzinger, C-TPAT director at CBP, during a Sept. 6 interview. Between an update to Minimum Security Criteria and a new best practice framework, the program is undergoing a combination of fine-tuning and major updates that are meant to show measurable security improvements while keeping it attractive to the trade for cargo processing benefits, she said. Schmelzinger said implementation of a small number of new criteria requirements could come at some point during fiscal year 2018, which ends Sept. 30, 2018.
The House Homeland Security on Sept. 7 advanced legislation that would reauthorize the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. The full committee adopted an amendment introduced by Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., which fully replaces the text of H.R. 3551, introduced on July 28, but only makes minor changes. As amended, H.R. 3551 would add exporters as eligible participants for C-TPAT, as well as new requirements for CBP to consult with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) in certain decisions regarding the C-TPAT program. The bill also would formally direct CBP to consider extending C-TPAT benefits to importers of noncontainerized cargo and “non-asset-based” third-party logistics providers.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The House Homeland Security Committee on Sept. 7 will mark up H.R. 3551, a bill to reauthorize the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, the committee announced. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz, introduced the bill in July (see 1707310051). The committee will also mark up H.R. 2142, the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act, a bill to expand the use of chemical screening devices to detect narcotics arriving at U.S. ports shipped through international mail and express carriers.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Aug. 23 in San Diego, CBP said in a notice.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., on July 28 introduced legislation that would reauthorize the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) for the first time in 11 years, McSally’s office announced. The bill would ensure the program provides C-TPAT participants “tangible benefits” and that it is updated to “meet the dynamic threats” facing the global supply chain, the announcement says. “CBP’s partnership with entities throughout the global supply chain helps ensure high standards of security, and it also streamlines cross-border commerce by pre-vetting companies, allowing their cargo to be expedited through our overburdened and undermanned ports of entry,” McSally said in a statement. “It’s been eleven years since this program first began, and it is time for it to be updated to reflect our modern global economy.”
Increased enforcement helped raise the overall submission rate for importer security filings (ISFs) for U.S.-bound cargo (ISF-10s) from 95 percent to 99 percent between 2012 and 2015, but CBP could better evaluate the program’s effectiveness through actions such as comparing manifests with vessel stow plans, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released July 20 (here). The GAO recommended several actions to enhance CBP’s identification of high-risk cargo shipments and enforcement of its November 2008 ISF interim final rule, which has been fully enforced since July 2013. The CBP Commissioner should identify and collect additional performance information on the impact of ISF data, such as identifying shipments containing contraband.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 19-23 in case they were missed.
AUSTIN, Texas -- CBP will soon deploy several improvements to its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, including clearer questions on C-TPAT questionnaires and a return to a relationship-based approach between C-TPAT specialists and the companies they validate, said Liz Schmelzinger, director of C-TPAT at CBP, at the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference on June 22. The agency is also working to fix problems with its cost-benefit data on C-TPAT membership detailed in a recent Government Accountability Office report, she said.