A pilot program has been initiated between China and US Customs to institute a validation program using the Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT) minimum security criteria as a guide and with CBP supply chain specialists providing technical assistance. Three US C-TPAT importers with supply chains in China were invited to participate. Previously, US importers who had substantial supply chains in China were unable to be validated, as Chinese authorities would not allow US Customs to perform validations in China.
This is also a departure from the previously announced "Third Party Validators Pilot Program", in which Customs designated a list of approved third parties that could work within China to assist in C-TPAT certification. Under this program, US importers would need to hire third party validators to assist with the validation process. The new validation program proposed within China is a US Customs - Chinese Customs agreement. There are no third party validators involved.
Follow this link to Customs website for more information: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/
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