Over the past few years US Customs and Border Protection and DG TAXUD (the European Commission's Directorate-General for Customs matters) have been working together to establish a joint roadmap towards mutual recognition of their trade partnership programmes. Through such an arrangement, the companies in the EU's supply chain security (AEO) programme would be able to receive benefits similar to those conferred on companies participating in the US programme (C-TPAT) and vice-versa.
Very little has been made public about developments in the negotiations, but just before we went to press an abridged version of the roadmap was made available to "external partners". It is meant to provide some background as to the purpose of the roadmap as well as an insight into the identified and agreed tasks needed to reach this year's deadline for an agreement.
Return to SITPRO News: Issue 67, Winter 2008/2009
