Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced the establishment of a mutual recognition agreement between Mexico and the United States, as of October 17, 2014.
A mutual recognition agreement between the U.S. C-TPAT program and another country—in this case Mexico’s Tax Administration Service (SAT)—certifies that the foreign customs program’s requirements and regulations are similar to those of C-TPAT, and produces benefits for companies operating in mutually recognized countries.
In particular, the US-Mexico mutual recognition agreement provides for increased cooperation between C-TPAT and SAT’s New Certified Companies Scheme (NEEC), the Mexican equivalent to C-TPAT.
Mutual recognition between the U.S. and Mexico allows processes pertaining to importing and exporting between the two countries to become more simplified. Imports and exports exchanged between the U.S. and Mexico are subject to the following benefits as a result of the mutual recognition agreement:
- Faster validation process
- Fewer exams of cargo
- Common security standards
- Higher levels of customs efficiency
- Front-of-the-line processing
- Marketability
Additionally, the U.S. has mutual recognition agreements with the following supply chain security programs: New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Korea, Jordan, the European Union, Taiwan, and Israel.
For information on how to allow C-TPAT to share company information with SAT, and to read CBP’s original publication regarding the US-Mexico Mutual Recognition Agreement, click here.
By Abby Frank, Consulting Coordinator