OTTAWA, Ont. — Earlier this year, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued its long-awaited security criteria for truck carriers under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).

The obligations falling on C-TPAT carriers are significant, but they do not replace those of other trade chain partners, according to Canadian Trucking Alliance CEO David Bradley.

“Over the next several months, C-TPAT carriers will be examining their security protocols in light of the new, more stringent requirements imposed by CBP,” said Bradley. “Ideally, the measures put in place by carriers will mesh seamlessly with those of their C-TPAT clients, ensuring an unbroken chain. But I think it’s important for everyone in the trade chain to be clear on their obligations, so that carriers are not called upon to do the work of others.”

CBP is currently working through the process of establishing security criteria for all modes of transportation, as well as for other C-TPAT participants. Certain requirements, notably the placement of high security seals on U.S.-bound trailers, appear in both carrier and importer security criteria published by CBP.

Recently, CTA wrote to major shipper groups in the automotive trade reminding them of their members’ responsibilities, and urging them to work with their carriers.

“Carriers have concerns over the extent to which they, versus the shipper, are responsible for sealing loaded trailers, for example,” said Bradley. “Mundane as it may seem, this raises important operational issues, and I am hopeful that other trade chain partners will recognize where their obligations lie and not seek to get carriers to assume additional responsibilities at no cost.”