Ocean cargo: former U.S. Customs chief gives high marks to C-TPAT

Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 2/20/2008

LOS ANGELES—While the jury may still be out on evaluating the full impact of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), the founder of the initiative is adamantly defending it.

“I am not just satisfied with C-TPAT, I am very proud of this program,” said Robert C. Bonner, former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency of the Department of Homeland Security. “It is one of several, interlocking initiatives that have created layers of security within the international supply chain where virtually none existed before 9/11.”

Currently a partner in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson Dunn, Bonner focuses his practice on internal investigations, high-stakes civil litigation and defense of government enforcement actions, and he advises on the intersection of homeland security, international trade and customs issues. He is also a senior partner at The Sentinel HS Group, a homeland security consulting firm in Vienna, Va.

Bonner told LM that C-TPAT is, “by far,” the largest government-private sector partnership to combat terrorism.

Critics of the initiative—including several prominent shipper associations—maintain that too much responsibility is being imposed on the importer, adding another layer of cost to margins that are continuing to shrink. Bonner disagrees:

“The program is voluntary, and it is a true partnership,” he said. “The essential C-TPAT

bargain is that companies which adopt and implement agreed upon supply chain security measures, in return will get expedited processing of their goods upon arrival, that is, fewer security inspections.”

On average, he said, C-TPAT secured cargo shipments are inspected six times less frequently that of non-C-TPAT shipments.

“Depending on the C-TPAT level achieved, the risk targeting score is adjusted, under CBP’s automated targeting system,” he said. “Thus, C-TPAT shipments, especially Tier 3, move faster and more predictable from aboard into the U.S. and through our U.S. ports of arrival.

But Bonner allowed that C-TPAT is “a dynamic program,” with best practices continuing to evolve.

“In this regard, we should adopt and integrate tamper-evident devices affixed to cargo containers at point of stuffing,” he said. “When this is done, we can move beyond just reduced inspections to the ‘green lane’ – with no security inspections other than a random stop.”