Foreign terminal operator approved for C-TPAT

Dubai Ports World, one of the top three global marine terminal operators in terms of container throughput, announced it has been certified by the U.S. government for meeting the minimum-security guidelines of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.

The Dubai-government owned company is the only foreign marine terminal operator enrolled in the voluntary program.

C-TPAT focuses on importers who implement approved security plans designed to prevent criminals or terrorists from exploiting international shipments and the global transportation system to move weapons, dangerous goods or people. C-TPAT importers are rewarded by receiving lower risk scores and faster clearance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Critical to the program's success is for importers to require that overseas suppliers and logistics providers follow their security plans to ensure shipment integrity throughout the journey.

Non-importer industry sectors that join C-TPAT do not receive any incentives from CBP, but seek to join for the indirect marketing benefit of demonstrating to customers that they are secure service providers. A terminal operator that is C-TPAT certified also has a potential advantage because CBP may have the confidence to allow shipments from trusted ports to enter the country sooner in the event of a terrorist incident involving the global trading system.

CBP staff physically checked DP World's security profile before approving the company's application to join C-TPAT.

DP World had promised to join C-TPAT in 2006 as part of its acquisition of U.S. terminals in the P&O deal, but the company was forced to divest its U.S. assets after a political uproar about an Arab government controlling critical U.S. infrastructure.

Several DP World terminals participate in the U.S. Container Security Initiative for targeted overseas scanning of U.S.-bound containers and the company's Southampton, U.K., and Port Qasim, Pakistan, terminals are test sites for CBP's Secure Freight Initiative for experimenting with 100 percent scanning of containers.

DP World also recently achieved ISO 28000 certification at its two terminals at the Port of Antwerp and is rolling out the security standards to all of its 44 terminals around the world. Fourteen of its terminals now comply with the independently audited standard for supply chain security management procedures.

Source: Transportweekly