The US Bioterrorism Act is just one part of current and evolving industry and government activities designed to increase the safety and security of the global food supply. These include the US FDA and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) joint Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and FAST (Free and Secure Trade) programs, the Advanced Manifest Ruling (AMR) and FDA/CBP Prior Notice Ruling, the Operation Safe Commerce (OSC) initiative, the Smart and Secure Trade lanes (SST) initiative, and activities of the World Customs Organization (WCO), as well as other European Union (EU), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) activities.
C-TPAT is a joint government-business initiative charged with strengthening the security of supply chains, from the point of origin to final destination, across all nodes and trading partners. Although the program is voluntary, thousands of companies are participating and have conducted security self-assessments in order to receive specific benefits from CBP, including expedited clearance of shipments. While not all the security profiles have been validated by CBP via on-site inspection and personalized review, companies ranging from General Motors to McCain Foods are mandating compliance from their suppliers and carriers.