Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems recently was recertified in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, a voluntary government-business initiative to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve international supply chain and U.S. border security. The program was implemented by U.S. Customs Border Protection to ensure the integrity of security practices and communicate and verify security guidelines of supply chain business partners.
Bendix initially was certified as a C-TPAT program participant in 2004. Since then, Bendix has been recertified twice. “Bendix takes great pride in working with the U.S. government to ensure that the integrity of all imports is secure,” says Bob Legato, vice president of integrated supply chain at Bendix. “Protecting our borders from a security breach is paramount to Bendix, and we plan to continue meeting C-TPAT guidelines to do our part to reduce risk associated with imported goods.”
Requirements for the C-TPAT program include following procedures for ensuring container security, physical access control, personnel security, procedural security, information technology security and threat awareness. Furthermore, as a C-TPAT partner, Bendix is required to conduct annual internal audits at its facilities to review adherence to minimum C-TPAT requirements.
In turn, suppliers, manufacturers and vendors working with Bendix must have written documentation indicating whether they also are C-TPAT certified. Those that are not C-TPAT certified must provide, among other requirements, written documentation proving they meet C-TPAT security criteria. “While the procedures required to meet C-TPAT requirements are rigorous, the end result of confidence in supply chain security is well worth it,” Legato says.
