On July 19, 2022, in a press release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the customs administration of Uruguay as well as Joint Work Plans (JWP) with the customs administrations of Guatemala and Colombia. The MRA with Uruguay provides “a platform for the exchange of membership information and recognizes the compatibility of the respective supply chain security program.” The JWPs with Guatemala and Colombia provides a path to mutual recognition (MR) between the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programs between the parties.
According to the press release, “the essential concept of MR is that CTPAT [Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism] and the foreign Customs Administrations program have established a standard set of security requirements which allows one business partnership program to recognize the validation findings of the other program which benefits both Customs Administrations and the private sector participants.”
The press release can be found here:
