Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced a mutual recognition agreement has been enacted between Israel and the United States as of June 27th, 2014.
A mutual recognition agreement between the United States’ C-TPAT program and another country—in this case Israel’s Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program—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.
The establishment of a mutual recognition program between the U.S. and Israel allows processes pertaining to importing and exporting between the two countries to become more simplified. Imports and exports exchanged between the U.S. and Israel are subject to the following benefits as a result of each country acknowledging the similarities between its own customs program and that of its partner country:
- Faster validation process
- Fewer exams on cargo
- Common security standards
- Higher level 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, and Taiwan.
Read CBP’s original publication regarding the U.S.—Israel Mutual Recognition Agreement, here.
By Abby Frank, Consulting Coordinator