Shippers say C-TPAT is cumbersome but worth improving

By John D. Schulz -- Logistics Management, 11/1/2006

WASHINGTON—Here’s a disconnect for you: Shippers who participate in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), the government’s expedited cross-border shipping program, think it’s bureaucratic and cumbersome. The government, meanwhile, hails C-TPAT as a signature success in the war against terrorism.

A recent study commissioned by the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), in cooperation with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, found that participants believe there are major shortcomings in C-TPAT. Nearly 6,000 businesses participate at some level in the voluntary, public-private program, which aims to improve security standards and promote efficiency for international freight movements.

Researchers surveyed 44 companies (35 of them C-TPAT members) about their experiences with the program and its administering agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Respondents said they found CBP to be slow and highly bureaucratic. They also complained that the government failed to provide adequate funding for the program, and that C-TPAT enforcers and validators need more training and greater knowledge of international trade processes and freight flows. Another shipper qualm: the program’s lack of flexibility to accommodate international traders’ varying circumstances and business practices.

Although they were dissatisfied with some aspects of C-TPAT, most respondents said that the program’s fundamental purpose is worthwhile, and that with additional work, it could facilitate trade growth while simultaneously strengthening supply chain security.

A common complaint was that CBP is taking too long to complete the multi-step process required for C-TPAT certification. “I feel the slow [C-TPAT certification] process is mainly due to the fact that this program was started quickly after 9/11, without appropriate funding or staffing,” says Brian Messinger, logistics manager for Sure Fit of Allentown, Pa., a C-TPAT member since 2005. Still, he says, certification under the program has been worthwhile and has resulted in fewer examinations, inspection fees, and late deliveries.

New CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham recently hailed the C-TPAT program as a success and said he favors increasing the number of participating companies. “That is 6,000 corporations who have the ability to look at their supply chains and also have the ability to enhance the security of those supply chains,” he said in an interview with Logistics Management. “I would love to get more corporations involved. That’s what we want. We want ways to enhance our security while assuring the free flow of legitimate freight.”

For a copy of the entire report, go to: www.nitl.org/LBJSecurityReport.pdf.