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CBP, EU Agree to Mutual Recognition for C-TPAT and AEO

May 7, 2012 by Tim Warren|Top News

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the European Union (EU) reached a Mutual Recognition (MR) Decision between CBP’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and the EU’s Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program May 4, 2012. An EU press release said the mutual recognition would begin July 1, 2012.

The EU press release is (here).

The decision means customs authorities for the U.S. and the EU will treat members of the other entity's trade partnership programs as it would its own members, the MR said. This includes favorable consideration of a operator's membership for risk assessment for inspections or controls, it said. Each customs authority can suspend membership treatment of an operator and each authority must also inform the other in cases of any irregularity of a member authorized by the other customs authority.

Information Exchange Between EU and CBP

Under the MR decision, the customs authorities will also exchange certain information, including:

Information exchange is to be conducted in electronic format in accordance with the 1997 agreement between the European Community and the U.S. on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs, the decision said. Data to be exchanged include: name, address, status of members, validation or authorization date, suspensions and revocations, authorization or identification number (in a form to be determined), and details that may be mutually determined by the customs authorities.

Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the mutual recognition decision.

Expected to Facilitate Trade

CBP Acting Commissioner David Aguilar and Director-General Heinz Zourek, of TAXUD signed the decision, which recognizes compatibility between the EU and the U.S. cargo security programs. “I can look back with pride on the considerable work that was completed by CBP and TAXUD to make this effort come to fruition and that we always maintained the necessary focus on security throughout the process,” said Aguilar.

“Today's decision on the mutual recognition of the EU and U.S. trade partnership programmes is a win-win achievement," said Zourek. It will save time and money for trusted operators on both sides of the Atlantic while it will allow customs authorities to concentrate their resources on risky consignments and better facilitate legitimate trade.

C-TPAT is a voluntary government-business initiative to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and U.S. border security. C-TPAT recognized that U.S. Customs and Border Protection can provide the highest level of cargo security only through close cooperation with the ultimate owners of the international supply chain such as importers, carriers, consolidators, licensed customs brokers, and manufacturers.

Since 2008 European companies can apply for an AEO status to have easier access to customs simplifications and to be in a more favorable position to comply with EU security requirements

U.S. Customs and Border Protection last year issued a press release stating that it and the TAXUD had agreed to language for the U.S.-EU MR Decision.

(See ITT's Online Arhives 11120531 for summary of the CBP announcement on the agreed language. See ITT's Online Archives 11120107 for summary of EU releases stating that mutual recognition was expected by July 2012.)

The deal with the EU marks the sixth MR agreement. Previous agreements are:

CBP has also said it has an MR agreement with Singapore and its Secure Trade Partnership Plus (STP-Plus) Program is in the works. A recent CBP release outlining the benefits of MR arrangements is (here).