The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has suspended BNSF Railway and Union Pacific from its Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program.
The railroads’ certification was suspended for 90 days effective Aug. 22, BNSF and UP said in customer advisories.
“We continue to work with our partners to ensure safety procedures are followed and that our certification is reinstated. Union Pacific’s security processes and measures remain fully in place to ensure the security of your shipments. We do not anticipate any delays from an Operations perspective due to the temporary suspension. Our long-standing safety and security procedures with the CBP remain intact,” UP told customers. “Union Pacific plans to appeal the decision to temporarily suspend our CTPAT certification. As we wait for our certification to be reinstated, we continue to follow our approved security procedures for inspection at the borders and ports.”
Likewise, BNSF said the temporary suspension would not affect “BNSF customs bond status, required customs documentation, or clearance processes. BNSF will continue to follow our approved security procedures for inspection at borders and ports and we do not anticipate any delays in our operations.”
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to an email seeking comment on the suspension of the railroads’ certification.
The program has more than 1,400 certified partners, according to the agency’s website.
“When an entity joins CTPAT, an agreement is made to work with CBP to protect the supply chain, identify security gaps, and implement specific security measures and best practices. Applicants must address a broad range of security topics and present security profiles that list action plans to align security throughout the supply chain. CTPAT members are considered to be of low risk, and are therefore less likely to be examined at a U.S. port of entry,” according to the Customs and Border Protection website.
“CTPAT Partners enjoy a variety of benefits, including taking an active role in working closer with the U.S. Government in its war against terrorism,” the agency says.
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