Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism

And so it's discouraging.

And I think the other thing I'll say is I worry about the CTPAT program, you know, because I think that CTPAT is a great program.

There are a lot of pluses there.

Yeah.

when they start rolling out like in the EO that only CTPAT brokers are going to be able to wrap NRIs.

And by the way, your license and your CTPAT certifications on the line, if you do it and you get it wrong, I mean, I think they're trying to advertise it as an incentive.

If I'm a broker, I'm not going to go there.

Right.

then they'll work with that department.

So there's something that was created with CTPAT.

So it's just cross-border work and anti-terrorism policies that came into place.

There's sometimes health regulations that come into place that go straight to our HR department.

They're saying you buy goods from parts of the world that do forced labor and child labor, and then you use those components to export them to the US.

My problem with this blanket 301 is you're telling me that every single country was just as bad? And with all the crap that we do between C-TPAT and our own internal compliance and social compliance, you can't give a pass to companies that are putting the effort in? We, you...

Okay.

Or product.

Yeah, so let's talk about CTPAT in particular.

To get CTPAT certified, it's a big job, and so you need typically someone to help you with that.

Or you need someone who's, who's done it before.

Also, it's gonna take you, like, six to 12 months to pull all s- The documentation together that you need

So when we talk about AEO, the acronym's called Authorized Economic Operator.

Or OEA, which is, I, I would butcher the Spanish, uh, but it's like the Brazilian version of AEO or the South American version of AEO.

So what happens is AEO countries will have what is really termed as like a, a reciprocal partnership with us, where they'll be like, "Hey, if your guy's CTPAT approved and he's coming into the UK, we're going to, uh, give him a break because he's CTPAT certified," and vice versa.

So we ha- so whoever we have these reciprocal relationships with, uh, they're actually called mutually recognized arraignm- arrangements is the typical term or the technical term that they use, MRA.

Because as the ocean carrier vessels have gotten bigger, not only are the bridges a problem, but the stacks are getting taller.

And so after, uh, 9/11, there was a, uh, the CBP introduced, the Customs and Border Protection, they introduced the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT, which offers a fast lane in exchange for meeting certain minimum security requirements.

The challenge is that even though you may clear customs more quickly, that doesn't mean you can take your container off the terminal yet.

There's still two more requirements.

The first of which is the ocean carrier has to release it, which usually isn't a problem.

The second, however, has become an, a problem as these stacks have gotten taller, and that is the marine terminal operator's got to be able to actually physically get to it.

So you've got this issue where you've got C-TPAT cleared containers getting buried by a mountain of non-C-TPAT still not cleared containers.

What we're looking to do with ASCII by partnering with CBP is we'll take that C-TPAT signal, send it upstream to the ocean carrier, so when they're planning their, their stowage plan for the vessel, they'll load those C-TPAT containers as a block.

Really? Wh- why aren't they giving out phone numbers? They just don't want you to have access to those drivers?

The answer I've always heard is security reasons 'cause anytime somebody else can contact the driver, there's risk of them being told to go somewhere else, and there's this, this security protocol called C-TPAT, so Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, and, uh, that is effectively a, a protocol that trucking companies have to implement if they wanna be able to haul most cross-border freight that's coming out of Mexico because shippers operate under that process, and they basically say, "Everything that we are doing is, is, is laden with security." So, like, uh, we have s- a, a guard at the entrance that you can't get through without getting fingerprinted or, not fingerprinted, but, like, you have to u- use, like, a fingerprint scanner if you're an employee typically.

Um, or as a visitor you have to give your ID, they check it, like, they check you in.

Um, you have to have a badge, you have to be with somebody at all times.

Like, there's all sorts of rules.

The main purpose is to keep drugs and people and weapons from getting into those trailers, into that freight, and hitting the border and, and coming into the U.S. And so C-TPAT is to protect the U.S. from stuff coming in that shouldn't come in.

And so most trucking companies operate with that because most shippers have to if they wanna be able to ship stuff to the U.S. more efficiently.

Otherwise, every single load's gonna have more inspections at the border, it's gonna potentially have more delays, and run more risk of theft, honestly.

So as the regulations continue to evolve, we shall watch where the enforcement is strengthened under the premise of the executive order.

I have two things we'll be talking about six months from now, supply chain tracing and the CTPAT obligations that are placed on the broker by the executive order.

So CTPAT is becoming a growing partnership.

Under that program, participations agree to protect the supply chain, identify security gaps, and implement specific security measures and best practices.

There's a clear message from CBP that importers must know their full supply chain.