U.S, EU point to progress on trusted trader recognition

U.S. and European Union officials formally agreed last week on a roadmap for achieving mutual recognition of their respective supply chain security programs sometime in 2009.

Each government has implemented supply chain security programs conferring expedited customs clearance and other trade facilitation benefits on companies that voluntarily implement operational and shipment security controls that meet approved guidelines. The U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism has been in place for more than five years, while the security portion of the EU's Authorized Economic Operator program went into effect on Jan. 1.

Customs authorities with this type of industry partnership are trying to develop confidence in the rigor of each other's programs so that companies certified by one national authority can receive similar benefits in another country's program, essentially creating low-risk traders on both the export and import side. At this stage, however, C-TPAT only verifies the security practices of importers, not exporters. The EU's AEO program covers both types of shippers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said that it's process for granting mutual recognition — so far New Zealand is the only country where such an arrangement is fully in place — involves side-by-side comparison of the two programs on paper and conducting joint validations to better understand the methodology used for verifying companies have strong shipment security in place.

The two sides have conducted an initial pilot program in which CBP personnel observed security components of the EU's AEO audit process. The positive results of the exercise led to the development of the roadmap, CBP said. Progress has been enhanced by the exchange of best practices and training programs, it said.

CBP Deputy Commissioner Jayson Ahern and Robert Verrue, director-general of the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union Directorate, signed the roadmap in Brussels, according to a news release issued by CBP.

The roadmap outlines six areas U.S. and EU customs authorities will need to harmonize to achieve mutual recognition. They are political, administrative, legal, policy, technical/operational and evaluation.

Last year, the White House and the EU Commission made mutual recognition one of their top priorities for removing bottlenecks in transatlantic trade.

Upcoming benchmarks for mutual recognition this year include:

   Establish guidelines regarding information exchanges, including the exchange of audit results and legalities associated with the disclosure of membership details.

   Perform more joint validations to determine remaining gaps between C-TPAT and AEO programs and resolve any discrepancies.

   Explore and test an export component for C-TPAT.

   Exchange best practices through joint visits and conferences.

   Sign a mutual recognition arrangement.

   Evaluate benefits for C-TPAT and AEO members.

   The joint statement said both sides are optimistic about achieving their goal of mutual recognition of supply chain security controls in 2009.

Source: American Shipper