CBP Posts Exporter Eligibility Requirements for C-TPAT

A new area on CBP's website explains that "entities that wish to participate in the C-TPAT Exporter program must meet with the program’s definition of an Exporter" and other eligibility requirements (here). To join C-TPAT as an exporter, an applicant must:

• Be an active U.S. Exporter out of the U.S.
• Have a business office staffed in the U.S.
• Be an active U.S. Exporter with a documentable Employee Identification Number (EIN), or Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) number.
• Have a documented export security program and a designated officer or manager who will act as the C-TPAT program main point of contact. Additionally the participant should have an alternate point of contact should the designated point of contact be unavailable.
• Commit to maintaining the C-TPAT supply chain security criteria as outlined in the C-TPAT Exporter agreement.
• Create and provide CBP with a C-TPAT supply chain security profile which identifies how the Exporter will meet, maintain, and enhance internal policy to meet the C-TPAT Exporter security criteria.
• In order to be eligible the Exporter must have an acceptable level of compliance for export reporting for the latest 12-month period and be in good standing with U.S. regulatory bodies such as: Department of Commerce, Department of State, Department of Treasury, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Department of Defense.

CBP also outlines a number of minimum security requirements, including for business partners and security procedures. While the program allows some flexibility, "where an exporter outsources or contracts elements of its supply chain, such as to a warehouse, logistics provider, carrier or other export supply chain element, the exporter must work with these business partners to ensure that effective security measures are in place and adhered to throughout the entire supply chain," the agency said.

Exporters in C-TPAT "must have written and verifiable processes for the screening and selection of business partners including service providers, manufacturers, product suppliers, and vendors," the agency said. "Where applicable, these processes must include checks against the Department of Commerce/Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Department of State/Directorate of Defense Trade Controls(DDTC), and Department of Treasury/Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lists. Entities on prohibited lists should be reported to the Supply Chain Security Specialist and relevant authority within 24 hours prior to departure." The exporter must have documentation for business partners eligible for C-TPAT certification or an Authorized Economic Operator program, it said.

If a partner is not eligible for the programs, the exporter must demonstrate that the entity is meeting C-TPAT security requirements. Such demonstration may include: contractual obligations; a letter from a senior business partner officer attesting to compliance; a written statement from the business partner demonstrating compliance with C-TPAT or AEO security program administered by a foreign customs authority; or, by providing a completed exporter security questionnaire, said CBP. Risk assessments of the company’s export program must be completed on an annual basis, it said.

The exporter should also look at a number of other internal security issues, said CBP. Those include container security, conveyance tracking and monitoring, physical access controls, information technology security, personnel and procedural security, the agency said. CBP did not immediately return a request for comment on when the program will be officially open to exporters.