Operational Policy 12 - Breaking Cargo Seals During a Roadside Inspection

CVSA needs to coordinate policy and procedures with various government agencies on how sealing/unsealing/resealing trailers will be handled on the road in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The policy needs to be consistent with Customs and Border Protection's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program requirements for trailer seals, Department of Defense seal requirements, and any other government agencies within the three jurisdictions that require trailers to be sealed. CVSA's policy should be consistent with requirements for WHO seals the trailer, the paperwork needed to back up a claim that the trailer was inspected by a law enforcement officer, and the types of seals required. CBP requires an ISO-17712 compliant seal.

With the activation of the truck e-manifest at all border crossings, and the plan to make electronic manifesting mandatory at all crossings by the end of 2007, this issue is becoming more critical every day. Eventually, motor carriers will be required to transmit seal numbers electronically to Customs and Border Protection on the e-manifest, and all seal changes will have to be documented and/or reported.

CVSA needs to look at the requirements of the various federal government agencies with an interest in or requirement to seal trailers and ensure that its inspection criteria do not conflict. After the information on agency requirements are gathered, CVSA would need to sit down with U.S., Canada and Mexico agencies to work out a common system for sealing/re-sealing/unsealing trailers.