Cotecna Selected by US Customs and Border Protection to Conduct Supply Chain Security Validations in China

Cotecna Selected by US Customs and Border Protection to Conduct Supply Chain Security Validations in China

July 10, 2007

    GENEVA and WASHINGTON, July 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Cotecna, the international inspection group, has been
selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),
Office of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism
(C-TPAT) to participate in a one-year pilot program to
conduct supply chain security validations in China. The
pilot program officially began on July 1, 2007.

    The objective of C-TPAT, a voluntary US
government/private sector partnership that was launched in
the aftermath of 9/11, is to better secure global supply
chains and facilitate legitimate cargo and conveyances
entering the United States. It is open to importers,
customs brokers, terminal operators, carriers and certain
foreign manufacturers to enable them to benefit from
reduced inspections and expedited processing at the US port
of arrival or border. C-TPAT participation requires the
submission of an application and subsequent certification
and validation of the information provided by the
applicant. Validation is done through on-site visits by CBP
personnel and its successful completion makes the C-TPAT
member eligible for enhanced benefits at the customs point
of entry.

    The objective of this pilot program in China is for
Cotecna and other selected companies to act on behalf of
the US government to conduct on-site validations of the
manufacturers that supply US importers enrolled in the
C-TPAT program. Today approx. 10,000 companies are enrolled
in the C-TPAT program, of which 6'500 are certified and
approx. 4'200 validated.

    Robert Massey, CEO Cotecna said, "We are proud to
have been selected to become a key partner of the US
government in the delivery of C-TPAT services in China. Our
network in China will be a great asset to delivering these
invaluable services. Our work on this pilot program further
develops our excellent relationship with the US Department
of Homeland Security that we began in Operation Safe
Commerce and emphasizes our commitment to global trade
security."

    For more information click on these links:

    Third party validator pilot selections (
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/third_ptyselec.ctt/third_ptyselec.doc
)

    C-TPAT strategic plan - general information (
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/ctpat_strategicplan.ctt/ctpat_strategicplan.pdf
)

    C-TPAT FAQs (
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/ctpat/ctpat_faq.xml
)

    Founded in Switzerland in 1974, the COTECNA Group
offers a wide range of trade facilitation services, trade
security services and quality certification standards.
Cotecna is a pioneer in areas such as risk management,
destination inspection and scanner integration projects and
also offers Customs modernization programmes, Customs
valuation assistance, trade security solutions and
commercial inspections. For a full description of our
services, please visit http://www.cotecna.com . The Cotecna
Group has a combined workforce of about 4,000 employees and
agents in close to 100 offices and holds 14 government
inspection contracts.



    For more information, please contact:
    
     Cotecna Press
     Alison Bourgeois
     Vice President Corporate Communications
     Geneva, Switzerland
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]
    
     Daine Eisold
     Vice President, Supply Chain Security
     Washington, USA
     Email: [e-mail]