Senator: GAO study of C-TPAT program “very troubling”

Senator: GAO study of C-TPAT program “very troubling”

Senator: GAO study of C-TPAT program “very troubling”

While U.S. Customs and Border Protection has enhanced its partnership with import trade sectors, challenges remain in verifying security practices, the government's watchdog agency said in a report released today.
   CBP oversees the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT program.
   The Government Accountability Office said, “In accordance with the SAFE Port Act, CBP has strengthened its policies for granting benefits to importers — C-TPAT’s largest member sector — and has efforts underway to improve its policies for granting benefits to C-TPAT members in other sectors.”
   Those sectors include:
   ' Sea, highway, rail and air carriers.
   ' Foreign manufacturers.
   ' U.S. customs brokers.
   ' U.S. and foreign maritime port authorities and terminal operators.
   ' Long-haul highway carriers in Mexico.
   CBP is finalizing criteria for freight consolidators and plans to issue the criteria by mid-2008.
   The GAO said while CBP has taken steps to improve the security validation process, it “still faces challenges in verifying that C-TPAT members’ security practices meet minimum criteria.
   “CBP has sought to strengthen the validation process by providing appropriate guidance and developing a portable, electronic instrument to help ensure that validation information is consistently collected, documented and uniformly applied to decisions regarding the awarding of benefits to C-TPAT members. However, the usefulness of the instrument is limited,” the GAO said.
   “CBP has developed performance measures for facilitating the flow of commerce, it has not developed performance measures to assess the effectiveness of C-TPAT’s efforts to improve supply chain security,” GAO said.
   Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., co-author of the SAFE Port Act, issued a statement on what her office characterized as “lax security enforcement” of C-TPAT.
   “The GAO’s findings are very troubling. Congress set out specific requirements for C-TPAT in legislation and we expect Customs to perform the duties we require of them,” she said. “When it comes to protecting our people and economy, we can’t afford to simply give companies the benefit of the doubt. We need to ensure that their supply chains are safe, from foreign factories, to ocean carriers, to our shores.”