WASHINGTON -- Customs and Border Protection announced that it had begun a pilot program with China to validate importers under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Under the program, China Customs will validate the security of facilities using the U.S. C-TPAT criteria, assisted by U.S. C-TPAT specialists. Three U.S. companies that are C-TPAT members and source most of their goods in China have volunteered to be validated in the program, CBP said Monday, without revealing the companies' identities.
Bradd Skinner, C-TPAT director, said that it took “several months of intense discussions” with Chinese officials to get the validation program under way. Since C-TPAT began, China has been firmly opposed to allowing U.S. teams to inspect facilities in-country. As a result, some 300 importers have not been able to get Tier 3 C-TPAT benefits, the highest level a company can achieve. The SAFE Port Act called for a pilot program in which Customs would authorize third parties to do C-TPAT validations overseas. The agency chose China for the pilot program, but in February Skinner told the Departmental Advisory Committee for the Commercial Operation of Customs and Border Protection and Related Agencies that there had been little interest in third party validations.
Journal of Commerce
