CBP to stress C-TPAT evaluations for importers

CBP to stress C-TPAT evaluations for importers    U.S. Customs and Border Protection is hiring more staff to conduct on-site visits in foreign countries to make sure importers and carriers are following through on voluntary promises to secure cargo containers during packing and transit, said the man heading the agency's trusted shipper program.
   So far, the border security agency has validated 455 companies that have applied to participate in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, 38 percent of which are brokers, said Todd Owen, the C-TPAT director.
   This year, CBP will focus on conducting more physical supply chain verifications of importers and carriers, which accounted for 36 percent and 15 percent of validations, respectively. Another 493 supply chain security validations are underway.
   Speaking at the annual gathering of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America in San Diego, Owen said the recent addition of 24 new supply chain security specialists (64 total) will speed up the pace of validations and ensure that participating importers continue to receive the benefit of fewer cargo exams and faster processing. CBP has funding for at least another 96 specialists to evaluate C-TPAT companies, Commissioner Robert Bonner has said.
   Towards that end, CBP has now started recruiting from the private sector to fill the position with people who have greater knowledge of transportation and logistics than people with inspector backgrounds, Owen said. Job listings will soon be posted on the USA Jobs Web site, he said.
   CBP is also training 40 field officers to supplement the supply chain validation teams as a temporary measure until more personnel are on board, Owen said.
   'They will still be assigned in the ports, but be pulled to conduct validations with us,' Owen explained after his presentation.
   During the first year, CBP focused validations on brokers because as middlemen they could help the agency quickly understand the dynamics of international supply chains, he said. The emphasis now is on reducing the threat from the most vulnerable links in the supply chain — namely at the point of stuffing.
   Five CBP teams are in Mexico conducting close to 80 validations of manufacturers and carriers during a two-week period, Owen said. Two teams are in Tijuana and Juarez and one team is in Nuevo Laredo as part of a new approach to cluster inspections in areas where there are large concentrations of manufacturers rather than do them in piecemeal fashion.
   The latest C-TPAT statistics show more than 8,800 companies have signed up to participate in the program, of which 4,475 have had their self-made security profiles reviewed and been certified by CBP. Fifty-five percent of C-TPAT members are importers, 24 percent are carriers and 16 percent are brokers.