CTPAT Update | Coalition of New England Companies for Trade Webinar

On August 4^th 2021, CTS joined the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade to discuss upcoming developments in CBP’s CTPAT Program.

Hosted by Karen Kenney, Global Supply Chain, Logistics and Trade Compliance Executive

Panelists:

Shawn Beddows, VP Global Services at CT Strategies 

Ron May, Senior Supply Chain Specialist, CT Strategies

The webinar touched on new and existing focus areas of the program. A key mention is that CTPAT members should pay close attention to the ‘trust but verify’ element (EOI) by making the security profile a core document within the company. CTS experts recommend that companies implement a CTPAT committee. Members should be aware that approval of security profiles does not always indicate a ‘green light’ at validation. Note that documentation remains the most critical towards meeting CTPAT standards. This means that risk assessments, 17-point inspections, business partner vetting processes, pest inspection procedures, etc., need to be documented, filtered, and extended to relevant business partners. This effectively creates a top-down security validation approach within the company.

The webinar also discusses the pivotal role of the 2021 CTPAT study conducted by CTS in partnership with the University of Houston’s Border Trade and Immigration Institute, a DHS Center of Excellence. Takeaways from the study include highly requested data analytics regarding return on investment of the CTPAT program. The study provides a new and more robust information and provides actionable metrics for both members and program directors.