CBP Posts Summary of Industry Partnership Programs
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a summary of various programs it considers to be Industry Partnership Programs.
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CBP states that IPPs proactively work with foreign manufacturers, exporters, carriers, importers, and many other industry sectors emphasizing a seamless security conscience environment throughout the entire commercial process.
Highlights from CBP's summary of IPPs include:
Carrier Initiative Program
The CIP is a joint effort among air, sea, land and rail carriers and CBP to address the problem of drug smuggling and terrorism in the U.S. on board commercial conveyances. By signing the CIP agreement with CBP, carriers agree to enhance their security at foreign and domestic terminals as well as on board their conveyances. Additionally, they agree to cooperate closely with CBP in identifying and reporting attempted or suspected smuggling attempts or other criminal activity.
In return, CBP agrees to conduct both domestic and foreign security site surveys, post seizure analysis, and provide training to identify security weaknesses within a participating carrier's company and suggests improvements to better their security systems and measures. CBP notes that there are over 4,800 participants in CIP.
Land Border Carrier Initiative Program
The LBCIP was developed in 1995 to address the threat of drug smuggling along the southwest border, the purpose of the LBCIP is to deter smugglers of illegal drugs from using land border commercial conveyances to transport their contraband.
As of July 1, 1996, all importers wishing to use line release must use one of the 825 (to date) LBCIP carriers.
Business Alliance for Secure Commerce
The BASC is a private sector led and controlled coalition that has been supported by CBP since its creation in 1996. The BASC was created to promote supply chain security in cooperation with government agencies and international organizations.
The BASC was created to address the problem of concealing contraband in commercial trade. As a voluntary program for businesses, with n government-imposed mandate corporate participants are expected to follow BASC's security standards which are designed to significantly improve their security practices and in the process deter contraband smugglers and terrorists from using their companies to introduce contraband and implements of terror in legitimate shipments.
The BASC currently has over 2,500 companies that have been certified by the organization and operates in 12 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela. According to CBP, there are over 1,000 participants in BASC.
Americas Counter Smuggling Initiative
The ACSI is a priority undertaking, established in 1988 by CBP, to build upon the success of CIP and BASC by strengthening and expanding U.S. anti-narcotics and anti-terrorism security programs with industry and government. ACSI is made up of teams of CBP inspectors and agents detailed to assist businesses in developing security programs and initiatives that safeguard legitimate shipments from being used as vehicles for drug smuggling or terrorist actions. The target countries are the same as those where BASC chapters exist. The ACSI teams travel to each target country approximately four times a year to provide hands-on training and site surveys to BASC members in the trade industry. According to CBP, there have been over 100 ACSI deployments since 1998.
CBP's IPP summary (posted 09/16/08) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/cargo_security/carriers/ipp.xml.