CBP stresses C-TPAT flexibility for brokers
The U.S. government program that provides incentives for U.S. companies to improve security in their overseas supply chains is not rigid and allows companies to adapt security criteria to meet their operational needs, a top Customs security official told a large gathering of intermediaries Wednesday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection realizes that a one-size-fits-all approach for the voluntary Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism does not work, especially for a customs brokerage industry that is dominated by small and medium-size businesses, Todd Owen, executive director for cargo and conveyance security, emphasized at the annual conference of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America in Phoenix.
Nearly 10 percent of the 6,700 companies (643) are certified as C-TPAT members, and 525 of those companies have had their security plans vetted and approved by CBP.
Owen said he reiterated to all 156 supply chain security specialists recently gathered in New Orleans for a C-TPAT conference that they need to be flexible when evaluating companies for meeting security standards.
That’s particularly important for customs brokers “where things like an ID system for your three employees, background checks for your wife or your daughter that work with you may not be appropriate,” Owen assured NCBFAA members.
Several months ago CBP created tighter minimum-security standards for customs brokers, who have until May 2 to post to the C-TPAT electronic portal their new security profile and plans on how to meet the new criteria.
But Owens emphasized that the agency does not intend to penalize companies if they miss the deadline “as long as they are making a good faith effort to try and get the information into the portal.
“We’re looking for a commitment, not a deadline,” he reassured the brokers. “Now, if you completely ignore the process for four months, that’s a different story.”
Wednesday's Shippers’ Newswire reported on very early feedback from an ongoing C-TPAT member survey about the program’s costs and benefits to importers and other industry sectors.
Daniel B. Hastings, president of a customs brokerage by the same name in Laredo, Texas, said he is incurring costs to apply high-security seals to outbound truck trailers and that, as of May 1, he will notify all customers that he will charge them $4 to $6 per shipment for the seal. He told the conference, which was attended by a record 550 people, that he tried to selectively apply seals for customers that wanted the added protection, but was told by CBP that he needed to institute the practice across the board.
Hastings said he had to pass on the cost or otherwise have to eat several thousand dollars. He expressed concern that he could lose an account over the matter, but said that was the price of being committed to C-TPAT.
Hastings also pointed out how C-TPAT provided some indirect business benefits to his company. The tighter process and security controls required by the program prompted the company to install closed-circuit TV cameras to monitor the loading docks and premises at his warehouses. The cameras have proved their weight in gold, he said.
In one case, the customs broker and freight forwarder was able to diffuse a harassment complaint by an employee because the cameras did not show any incident at the reported time and place of the incident. The cameras also enabled the company to win a damage claim from a large western railroad when one of its locomotives damaged the dock area at a Hastings warehouse. The railroad initially denied the claim, saying that the dock door was closed and that Hastings did not have a dock plate, or ramp, in place to receive the locomotive, which arrived to remove an empty rail car. Hastings was able to recover damages after film showed the dock plate was in place, he said.
The company also fired a forklift driver after the film showed that he willfully or carelessly dropped a load of cargo, rather than stopping to re-secure the load before it tipped over.
“That’s not the type of forklift operator we want,” he said afterwards.