Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

The Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is cited as the largest and most successful government-private sector partnership to emerge after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

C-TPAT is a voluntary government-business initiative formulated and administered in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS)Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and designed as part of an overall comprehensive national security strategy to reduce risk level in the nation’s domestic/international freight supply chain. It was designed to build cooperative relationships and strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and U.S. border security.

Through the C-TPAT initiative, CBP invites businesses to ensure the integrity of their security practices and communicate and verify security guidelines of their business partners in the supply chain.

As stated above, C-TPAT is a voluntary program. It is open to shippers, carriers, and intermediaries. To be certified in the C-TPAT program, participants must meet very specific operating standards.

What are the benefits? According to CBP, the benefits of participating in C-TPAT may include:

• Playing an active role in the war against terrorism,
• A reduced number of CBP inspections,
• Priority processing for CBP inspections, and
• Eligibility to attend C-TPAT training seminars.

Other potential benefits to C-TPAT partners may include:

• Entitlement to a CBP account manager,
• Eligibility for special account-based processes, and
• Certification to proceed with Importer Self Assessment program (ISA).

Canada has a program very similar to C-TPAT that is called Partners in Protection (PIP).

C-TPAT security criteria. From the beginning, voluntary participation and jointly developed security criteria, best practices, and implementation procedures have been the guiding principles for C-TPAT. As the program has grown, so has the need for more clearly-defined security criteria to establish minimum baseline security expectations for membership in the voluntary, incentives-based program.Members are expected to create a Security Profile outlining its security protocols to CBP.

During the C-TPAT Validation Process, a CBP Validation Team verifies information on the Security Profile against actual business practices. Validating information on the Security Profile may involve CBP personnel visiting international business sites of the organization and its supply chain partners. Depending upon the Team’s findings, the organization could potentially find some or all of its benefits deferred until corrective measures are put in place.