Extending the re-validation cycle for companies in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism by a year will not adversely impact supply chain security, according to Shawn Beddows, the U.S. Customs official directly in charge of the program.
The Obama administration’s budget plan for fiscal year 2013 calls for a $5 million reduction in C-TPAT spending, with the money diverted instead to pay for frontline inspection operations. Most of the savings are to be achieved by scheduling follow-on verifications of trusted shippers’ supply chain security practices every four years, instead of three. […]
Another possible change to C-TPAT is the addition of an export component. CBP officials, acquiescing to private sector demands for a program that would make it easier to comply with the cargo security programs of foreign governments, in recent months have said they are contemplating a security program for exporters.
Customs is expected to consider several approaches for export verification, including flipping the C-TPAT import criteria to exports or using a security checklist that is equivalent to ones used by European Union governments for their Authorized Economic Operator programs.
