Washington Today U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule in the Federal Register ending the Land Border Carrier Initiative Program (LBCIP) and replacing it with the existing and more comprehensive Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). C-TPAT builds upon the best practices of the LBCIP while providing greater border and supply chain security with expanded benefits to approved participants.

The LBCIP was created as a voluntary industry partnership program. Through the program, participating land and rail commercial carriers agreed to enhance the security of their facilities and conveyances to prevent controlled substances from being smuggled into the United States. Since the inception of LBCIP, CBP has developed a more comprehensive voluntary industry partnership program in C-TPAT. Under the final rule, CBP is terminating the LBCIP and will focus its partnership efforts on the further development of C-TPAT.

Similar to the Industry Partnership Programs, C-TPAT engages the trade community in a cooperative relationship underscoring the importance of employing enhanced security measures to eliminate exposure to narcotic smugglers and vulnerability to terrorist threats.