BONNER STRESSES TRADE BENEFITS OF C-TPAT

BONNER STRESSES TRADE BENEFITS OF C-TPAT    U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner urged port executives Tuesday to help Customs promote initiatives aimed at facilitating legitimate trade.
   Bonner said companies enrolling in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a joint agency-business initiative aimed at strengthening supply-chain and border security, will be given preferential treatment in processing their shipments into the United States.
   “We will give them the fast lane across the border, or the fast lane through our seaports,” Bonner said at the American Association of Ports Authorities' spring conference Tuesday.
   With C-TPAT, introduced last November, Customs is asking businesses to strengthen their security practices and communicate their security guidelines to their business partners. To gain enrollment, businesses need to apply to Customs.
   'Companies are lining up to join this program,' Bonner told the AAP attendees. “If I were in your shoes, I would pitch it.”
   Bonner added that Customs' Container Security Initiative, a program Customs launched earlier this year, is gaining momentum.
   One of CSI's main elements is pre-screening of cargo at the point of origin before it departs for the United States. Cargo that passes pre-clearance would then be placed in containers that are electronically sealed.
   Based on the success of the C-TPAT and CSI initiatives, cargo could soon be separated into high-risk or low-risk categories, he said. These elements are part of a 'layered security framework' that Bonner said he envisions.