CBP releases a C-TPAT Costs and Benefits study
On September 7th, Customs and Border Protection released the full report of the C-TPAT Cost Benefit Survey. This survey was conducted by the The Center for Survey Research (CSR) at the University of Virginia between January and April 2007.
According to the executive summary, a total of 1,756 partners took part in the survey, roughly one-third of the number of total members. Of this pool, 54.3% were importers, 20% carriers, 18% service provider and 7% were foreign manufacturers.
CBP identified the following questions as guidance for this survey:
1. What motivates a company to become a partner?
2. What are the costs of implementation?
3. What are the costs of maintenance?
4. What are the tangible benefits?
5. What are the intangible benefits?
6. How do cost/benefits differ among company types?
7. Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
8. What is the overall evaluation of the program?
9. What is the likelihood of a partner staying with the program?
Among the conclusions that the researchers came to is that just over half of members were of the opinion that the benefits of membership outweighed the costs. Despite almost a third of respondents reporting that the costs of being a partner were nearly equal to the benefits, 91.5% stated that they had not considered leaving the program. Results from this survey seem to indicate that many companies are members of the program for reasons that are not strictly related to tangible benefits.
The complete text of the report can be downloaded at the CBP website or by clicking on this link:
