C-TPAT and Importing Initiative
Supply Chain Security
Benefits of Our Overall Services
Additional C-TPAT Benefits
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Supply Chain Security
The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) offers trade-related businesses an opportunity to play an active role in the war against terrorism. By participating in this first worldwide supply chain security initiative, your company can realize a more secure and expeditious supply chain for your employees, suppliers, and customers.
C-TPAT was founded in November 2001, aimed at strengthening the U.S. Supply chain and to enforce security at the borders. Come 2018, C-TPAT has over 11,400 certified partners. By joining the list of approved clients from C-TPAT, an importer, exporter or carrier will have privileges courtesy of the CBP. Also, having the approval from C-TPAT means that your shipments will be regarded as low risk. It will grant your shipments major time savings at border crossings as they won’t be checked as much as the shipments that are not registered with C-TPAT. Importers, exporters or carriers who have registered with C-TPAT must follow the shipment packing guidelines to avail these benefits. One of the most important is the ISO 17712 high-security seal that must be used to secure the shipments.
Pedraza CustomHouse Brokers is a proud affiliate of C-TPAT and has been helping out clients in their international trade relations. With Pedraza CustomHouse Brokers, you can also have yourselves the same benefits.
There are certain prerequisites that needed to be fulfilled in order to receive Custom Broker’s license from the C-TPAT. Pedraza CustomHouse Brokers have maintained the highest standards and that has earned us a spot among the affiliates of C-TPAT. Henceforth, our domestics and international operations are within the guidelines of the C-TPAT, enabling our clients to conduct business effortlessly across borders.
Major C-TPAT Benefits
Among the many benefits of being affiliated with C-TPAT, the most lucrative advantage is the reduced holdup times. If a shipment has no authoritative certification, it will be checked at every checkpoint in its transit due to security reasons. With a C-TPAT affiliation, your shipments will have:
The provision to move to the first of the inspection lines
Access to FAST (Free and Secure Trade) lanes
Minimal wait times at borders
The assistance of a Supply Chain Security Specialist (SCSS)
The support from the C-TPAT Status Verification System
Additional C-TPAT Benefits
CBP offers additional benefits to certain certified C-TPAT member categories. These include:
- A reduced number of CBP inspections (for shorter border delay times)
- Priority processing for CBP inspections (front-of-the-line when possible)
- Assignment of a C-TPAT supply chain security specialist to help you validate and enhance security throughout your international supply chain
- Potential eligibility for the CBP Importer Self-Assessment program with an emphasis on self-policing, not CBP audits
- Eligibility to attend C-TPAT supply chain security training seminars
To join the C-TPAT program, an organization must meet certain quality standards. Even though there aren’t any costs associated with joining C-TPAT, meeting these quality standards will require the organization to build everything up to the highest quality. This is where companies have to spend their money. Most of the time, the overall costs can be too massive for small to medium scale businesses to handle. However, consulting with Pedraza CustomHouse Brokers will expand your options significantly. We can also help organizations get C-TPAT affiliation by guiding them through the intricacies associated with checking all the right boxes.
Every organization must follow a general 3-step process to be verified with the C-TPAT:
- Submission of a comprehensive risk assessment of the company
- Submission of the C-TPAT application
- Submission of Supply Chain security profile that emphasizes the company’s effort in meeting the C-TPAT standards.
Even though the overall process can be summed up into three, many sub-procedures come in between every one of them. New organizations that are entering the international trade business may not be familiar with every one of them. Understanding them and getting everything right from the get-go can prove hard if you are not adept with the system. We can help you through every point of the process and smoothen the approval process substantially.
Benefits of Our Overall Services
- Better compliance, cost savings, and control over international shipments
- Always up to date and ahead of the curve on best practices
- Se Habla Español
- Same-day services and FREE consultations
- Handle all of the necessary paperwork for you
- Refund your NAFTA values
To find out how you can take part in this program, call Pedraza CustomHouse Brokers Inc in El Paso at 915-791-5500 or in Laredo at 956-764-4900.
Security-and-Threat-Awareness PDF
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