GENEVA and WASHINGTON, July 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Cotecna, the international inspection group, has been selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) to participate in a one-year pilot program to conduct supply chain security validations in China. The pilot program officially began on July 1, 2007.
The objective of C-TPAT, a voluntary US government/private sector partnership that was launched in the aftermath of 9/11, is to better secure global supply chains and facilitate legitimate cargo and conveyances entering the United States. It is open to importers, customs brokers, terminal operators, carriers and certain foreign manufacturers to enable them to benefit from reduced inspections and expedited processing at the US port of arrival or border. C-TPAT participation requires the submission of an application and subsequent certification and validation of the information provided by the applicant. Validation is done through on-site visits by CBP personnel and its successful completion makes the C-TPAT member eligible for enhanced benefits at the customs point of entry.
The objective of this pilot program in China is for Cotecna and other selected companies to act on behalf of the US government to conduct on-site validations of the manufacturers that supply US importers enrolled in the C-TPAT program. Today approx. 10,000 companies are enrolled in the C-TPAT program, of which 6'500 are certified and approx. 4'200 validated.
Robert Massey, CEO Cotecna said, "We are proud to have been selected to become a key partner of the US government in the delivery of C-TPAT services in China. Our network in China will be a great asset to delivering these invaluable services. Our work on this pilot program further develops our excellent relationship with the US Department of Homeland Security that we began in Operation Safe Commerce and emphasizes our commitment to global trade security."
For more information click on these links:
Third party validator pilot selections ( http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/third_ptyselec.ctt/third_ptyselec.doc )
C-TPAT strategic plan - general information ( http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/ctpat_strategicplan.ctt/ctpat_strategicplan.pdf )
C-TPAT FAQs ( http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/ctpat_faq.xml )
Founded in Switzerland in 1974, the COTECNA Group offers a wide range of trade facilitation services, trade security services and quality certification standards. Cotecna is a pioneer in areas such as risk management, destination inspection and scanner integration projects and also offers Customs modernization programmes, Customs valuation assistance, trade security solutions and commercial inspections. For a full description of our services, please visit http://www.cotecna.com . The Cotecna Group has a combined workforce of about 4,000 employees and agents in close to 100 offices and holds 14 government inspection contracts.