U.S., Dominican Republic strengthen customs cooperation

The United States signed a mutual recognition arrangement on Tuesday with the Dominican Republic that will allow for increased collaboration between the two countries in supply chain security.    The United States signed a mutual recognition arrangement on Tuesday with the Dominican Republic which will allow for increased collaboration between the two countries in supply chain security.
   The arrangement also recognizes the compatibility between U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and the Dominican Republic’s Authorized Economic Operator Program, according U.S. Customs in a press release. 
   In addition to the Dominican Republic, the United States has entered similar arrangements with other customs administrations, including those in Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office. The Dominican Republic arrangement is the first to be signed with a Caribbean nation and second in Latin America, CBP said. 
   MRAs are bilateral arrangements that indicate that the security requirements or standards of the foreign industry partnership program, as well as its validation or audit procedures, are the same or similar with those of the C-TPAT program. “The goal of the MRA is to link the two industry partnership programs, so that together they create a unified and sustainable security posture that can assist in securing and facilitating global cargo trade,” CBP said.
   The arrangement provides a number of benefits to program members, including fewer cargo exams, a faster validation process, common standards, efficiency for customs and business, transparency between customs administrations, business resumption, and front-of-the-line processing.