Supply Chain Security

Supply Chain Security Program

Data

Status

Active

Start

2016

Implementation

Executive Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism

Social Networks

@OEA_CICTE

OEACICTE

CICTE's Supply Chain (Authorized Economic Operator-AEO) program focuses its efforts on a public-private partnership program, accepted worldwide as a best practice in terms of risk management and supply chain security, in addition to facilitating commerce.

The program is an initiative that benefits both private companies and national governments.

To be certified in the program, companies must comply with minimum safety standards and follow basic safety protocols. The national government benefits when more companies adhere to these safety standards, mitigating the risk associated with certain imports and exports and allowing them to focus limited safety resources on riskier shipments.

As an incentive for these companies to implement stricter safety measures, national customs agencies offer several benefits to certified companies, including: reduced number of inspections, direct contact with a customs official, priority processing in case of inspections and possible mitigation of sanctions, among others.

In a fully developed Authorized Economic Operator program, any member of the supply chain can apply for certification, including: manufacturers, importers, exporters, customs agents, carriers, intermediaries, ports, terminal operators, distributors and warehouses. For a company to be certified, they must have their practices and protocols validated by the Authorized Economic Operator team. This validation process takes into consideration the security and protection measures present in the company's supply chain and, as a result, encourages all actors in a supply chain to be certified.

Contact: [email protected]

Follow the conversation and news on this program at #CICTE_Supply

Objectives

To strengthen the capacities of member states to secure their supply chain through the creation of national Authorized Economic Operator programs that also help facilitate international trade in the region.

Activities

In each beneficiary country, we start with an evaluation visit of 3 to 4 days, in which the CICTE project team meets independently with all stakeholders from the public and private sectors to obtain an accurate picture of the history, the current state and the obstacles to growth facing the country. When possible, the project team also accompanies the Authorized Economic Operator program officers conducting a validation visit to a company, a critical phase of the successful administration of the program. On the basis of these meetings, the CICTE team elaborates a document with technical recommendations and establishes a process of monitoring and comparative evaluation for its implementation.
The two follow-up visits, of 4 to 5 days each, cover two complementary training modes. The CICTE team conducts a series of workshops for government officials involved in the administration of the Authorized Economic Operator program, which includes both in-depth technical training for customs personnel working at the program headquarters and a more superficial description for the frontline border control officers working at the ports of entry and exit.
As a complement to this training, the project team collaborates with host government officials to organize a series of training courses for the private sector that will help companies of all sizes meet the requirements of the Authorized Economic Operator program.

More Results

Results

Almost 4,500 people trained in supply chain security through 29 training workshops.

Beneficiary Countries