(Ottawa: July 3, 2008) -- On balance, the Canadian Trucking Alliance is giving the thumbs up to an announcement from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that they have signed a mutual recognition arrangement covering the departments’ respective supply chain security programs -- Partners in Protection (PIP) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). The June 28th signing follows months of discussion between CBSA and business groups, including CTA, on ways to bring PIP into line with the more stringent C-TPAT program in the US.
Carriers who were members of the PIP program before June 30th, 2008, will have six months to re-apply to the re-vamped program. They will be required to complete a security profile, which will be reviewed by CBSA. A follow-up site validation may be required, but CBSA has indicated that this step may not be undertaken if a C-TPAT validation has been carried out within the past two years. Ultimately carriers will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with CBSA that sets out the roles and responsibilities of the respective parties.
“If a carrier is already a C-TPAT member, this should be a relatively straightforward exercise, and they will continue to receive the benefits these programs provide, such as access to FAST lanes at busy international crossings”, says CTA Chief Executive Officer David Bradley. “I’m also pleased to see that CBSA listened to CTA and others in the business community and significantly revised an initial suspend/cancel policy that would have literally driven carriers out of the program. I am confident that the trucking industry, the single largest industry sector in PIP, will be able to comply with these tougher new requirements.”
However, Bradley admits that he “remains disappointed that CBSA and CBP have fallen short of the goal of full mutual recognition – that is, a situation where a carrier need only apply to PIP or C-TPAT, but not both. But we have at least taken an important step forward, and I’m hopeful that we will get there eventually.”
Source by cantruck.com
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