On May 15, 2014, the updated high security seal standard issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) went into full effect for seal manufacturers.  The new standard, known as ISO 17712:2013, replaced the previous version of the standard, ISO 17712:2010.  

According to a recent bulletin published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the new standard applies to all participants in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) because C-TPAT security criteria require the use of high security seals meeting the current ISO 17712 standard.  Specifically, the applicable criteria state that “… a high security seal must be affixed to all loaded containers bound for the U.S.” and that “All seals must meet or exceed the current ISO 17712 standards for high security seals.”  CBP did not specify a particular implementation deadline, allowing the industry time to transition to the use of the new seals once old seal stocks have been depleted.  

The new standard includes a change to the so-called Clause 6 requirements for the tamper-evident aspects of high security seals.  Notably, a manufacturer may conduct testing of the tamper-evident aspects of its seals either in-house or by employing a third-party testing laboratory that applies the manufacturer’s test criteria and procedures.  In addition, to be compliant with the new standard a high security seal must have a unique number (and may have an optional barcode), must have the company name or logo indicated on the seal, and must be marked or stamped to identify its classification as high security (“H”) .

As a long-time participant in C-TPAT, Expeditors is committed to compliance with the upgraded seal security criteria as applicable to its categories of membership in the C-TPAT program. Expeditors has carefully reviewed the updated ISO 17712:2013 requirements and has begun the transition process. In that regard, Expeditors indicated that it is communicating with its carrier partners regarding their plans to transition to the new seals once old seal stocks are depleted.  

With respect to U.S. bound containers loaded and sealed at the factory with seals sourced by the factory, Expeditors encourages all U.S. importers to engage with their overseas vendors to ensure the factories are transitioning to the use of the new C-TPAT-compliant seals as well.

For further information, CBP’s bulletin is available here

The updated ISO standard is available for purchase from the ISO here