Spring is here! What better time to continue our end-of-the-month Logistics Glossary Week posts, to continue our mission to provide all who are interested in our industry to get savvy with our terminology. This month we’re going to continue our Border Crossing Logistics Terminology series!
Border Crossing Logistics Terminology – Part II
This month’s focus we’re going to be taking a more basic look at what cross-border logistics is all about and focus on the kinds of governmental initiatives that are involved in various cross-border logistics processes.
Cross-Border Logistics
Definition: The definition of cross-border logistics is pretty intuitive. It is simply any logistics processes that involves moving goods from one geographic boundary, usually separated by political entity (i.e. political entities or legal jurisdictions such as governments, sovereign states, federal states, and other applicable subnational entities.
As borders that separate these regions have their own system of governance, third-party logistics companies that specialize in cross-border logistics can take away any potential chaos with regards to compliance and the required documents to get your goods across from origin to destination.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Definition: The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, is an agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It was created in order to allow easier trade between the borders of each participating country through an ease of customs, regulations, and arguably most importantly: tariffs.
Because of the advantages that NAFTA offers to the participating North American countries, Canada and Mexico have been and currently maintain their place as two of the largest trading partners for the United States, and vice-vera.
Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)
Definition: The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT, is a voluntary supply chain security program. Headed by the US Customs and Border Protection, it was launched in 2001 in order to improve the security of private companies’ supply chains with respect to terrorrism.
Companies who participate in the C-TPAT certification program undergo a documented process for determining and alleviating risks throughout their cross-border supply chain processes. The benefit to this program is that participating companies are deemed low-risk, and are eligible for expedited processing of cargo which in turn leads to fewer customs examinations.
That’s it for us this week! If you liked this blog post, why not subscribe to our blog? If you’re interested in what we do as a 3rd party logistics provider, don’t hesitate to check out our services (as expressed above, we are very pro finding you the lowest total cost!). We’re also in the twittersphere, so give us a follow to get the latest logistics and supply chain news!
