We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Customs head continues ban on C-TPAT eligibility for non-asset based 3PLs
newsworthy

Customs head continues ban on C-TPAT eligibility for non-asset based 3PLs

September 16, 2010
Mark B. Solomon
No Comments

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has said it will continue its 17-month-long ban on allowing non-asset based third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) to join the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), one of the agency's leading supply chain security initiatives.

In separate letters to a House lawmaker and to the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), the group representing the 3PL industry, Customs Commissioner Alan D. Bersin, who took over CBP earlier this year as a recess appointment, laid out essentially the same message: that the agency's C-TPAT resources are best allocated to validating companies with extensive international exposure, rather than to 3PLs whose operations are primarily domestic in nature.

Under C-TPAT, which was conceived following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, companies submit plans to CBP showing they have acceptable security measures in place across their supply chain. Those that pass a government audit receive expedited clearance of cargo entering U.S. commerce.

In January 2009, CBP denied eligibility to 3PLs that didn't own any assets and who just did business in domestic U.S. commerce.

CBP has long said an international supply chain is at its most vulnerable at the origin point where a container is stuffed and during the movement of cargo to the point of export to the United States. Most non-asset based 3PLs operate in U.S. commerce and exert little influence over the international supply chain, Bersin said.

Bersin said in a letter written in early June to Rep. William L. Owens (D-N.Y.) that it would not be "prudent to use [CBP's] limited program resources to validate" non-asset based 3PLs with exclusively U.S.-based operations, "when resources would be best served to validate entities abroad." Owens supports the inclusion of non-asset based 3PLs in C-TPAT and has drafted legislation (H.R. 5619) that would amend the 2006 SAFE Port Act to extend eligibility to these companies.

In a Sept. 7 letter to TIA, Bersin wrote that much of C-TPAT's success is "attributed to the program's primary focus on those entities that can physically influence security practices and procedures overseas where CBP has no regulatory reach. Non-asset based 3PLs, defined as companies with no assets such as conveyances or warehouses, would not be a key part of C-TPAT's mission or focus, Bersin said.

Bersin added in his letter that he appreciates the desire of "non-eligible entities" to participate in C-TPAT and encouraged them to work with their business partners to improve cargo security.

John T. Stirrup, TIA's legislative director, said the group would turn its efforts toward helping the Owens amendment move through the legislative process. On Aug. 30, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business trade group, threw its support behind the Owens bill, saying the exclusion of non-asset based 3PLs "is to the detriment of both the facilitation of legitimate trade and improving the security of the supply chain."

Transportation Regulation/Government Global Logistics
KEYWORDS U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Related Articles

    Non-asset based 3PLs take big leap toward C-TPAT entry

    N.Y. lawmaker takes up 3PL fight for C-TPAT eligibility

    IWLA launches C-TPAT-based program for 3PLs

Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Recent Articles by Mark Solomon

Coming together for road safety: interview with Joshua Girard

Off the rails

Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Cold chain giant Lineage Logistics buys its own rail operator

  • The Home Depot opens automated DC in greater Atlanta

  • For container lines and ports, what a difference a year makes

  • Outlook 2021: What’s in store for logistics supply chain?

  • A guide to Brexit for ecommerce businesses

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Jlt procure rugged devices thumb

What it takes to procure the right rugged devices for your warehouse

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Procuring new rugged devices for your warehouse is often a big decision and a significant investment. It needs careful planning and consideration. It involves more than ticking boxes on a spec sheet. It includes testing and getting employee buy in. And it's about finding a partner that can work with you to deploy...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Proven Benefits: A Compendium of Slotting Optimization Success Snapshots

  • Bridging Information Gaps in Dock and Yard Operations

  • How Intelligent Sensor Solutions Turn Data Into Action

  • Order picking Solutions: Understanding Your Options

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing