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Washington, DC - Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Deputy Commissioner Douglas M. Browning and Andrew Yood of the American Petroleum Institute (API) signed the first statement of standards in the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) program, an initiative that rewards the most compliant importer with maximum facilitation and minimal intrusion on business. The agreement defines the expectations of the ISA program for petroleum importers.

"I am pleased to have the opportunity to sign the statement of standards developed jointly by CBP and API," said Deputy Commissioner Browning. "This is truly a milestone, not only in the ISA program, but also in our efforts to enhance security processes throughout the global supply chain."

The ISA program is a joint government-business initiative designed to build cooperative relationships that strengthen trade compliance. It is based on the development and use of established business practices and good internal controls. Starting with membership in Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), ISA helps serve the CBP goals of facilitating legitimate trade while helping to secure the supply chain.

"The agreement between CBP and API represents the culmination of more than a year's worth of work," said Assistant Commissioner Deborah Spero, Office of Strategic Trade. "We now have a template that any company can use to sign-on to ISA and a blueprint for companies to know expectations and responsibilities, as well as the benefits of the program."

Representatives from the API, the petroleum industry, and CBP formed a joint working group to develop industry-wide standards for the petroleum ISA accounts. They identified inherent risks in the petroleum importation process and established the required controls necessary to compensate those risks. They also developed documents that define the expectations for petroleum importers participating in the ISA program. Specifically, those documents are (1) Joint Standards of Petroleum ISA, (2) Petroleum Industry ISA Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), (3) Petroleum Industry ISA Questionnaire, and (4) Petroleum Industry ISA Risk/Control Matrix.

For more information on the Importer Self-Assessment program and the Petroleum Industry - Importer Self-Assessment, please visit the Customs and Border Protection Web site at www.cpb.gov.