In the upcoming AIAG North America Customs & Trade Town Hall on November 6, 2025 (at Elevate in Detroit), 22-year U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) veteran Shawn Beddows will lead an in-depth panel discussion on how cross-border logistics strategies intersect with key supply chain security programs like Mexico’s Operador Económico Autorizado (OEA), Partners in Protection (PIP), and the U.S. Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). Two CBP expert panelists, an OEM, and Beddows, who is currently vice president, global services for CT Strategies, will offer practical insights for companies operating across the U.S.-Mexico border with a focus on how to align operational practices with binational security and compliance standards.
In this interview, Beddows provides a sneak preview of the session titled “Navigating Cross-Border Logistics: AEO, CTPAT, and PIP Updates and Compliance Strategies.”
AIAG: What was your experience like serving in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection?
Beddows: The first 11 years were in uniform working airport operations, inbound and outbound, special operations with narcotics interdiction — all that kind of fun stuff. I then spent six years at the seaport, also inbound-outbound cargo operations. Specifically, I worked with the NYPD auto crime unit on a task force intercepting outbound stolen vehicles. I left uniform and went into the CTPAT program, where I spent six years working operationally as a supply chain security specialist — three years conducting security assessments for U.S. members of the program all over the world, three years in headquarters as a CTPAT branch chief, and then eventually as the national program director. In 2020 I came back to the U.S. and started consulting work. About 85% of what I do every day is CTPAT.
AIAG: The CTPAT program has been around for two decades. What makes it relevant today?
Beddows: You could argue that all the uncertainty around trade makes CTPAT more relevant than ever because CTPAT is about predictability, transparency, and companies being known and trusted by the U.S. government, which gives them special treatment versus companies that aren't part of the program. Anytime you get into issues with tariffs or forced labor or whatever it is, if you can draw a connection and say, “Hey, I'm in the good guy club,” it's always better to be in that club than not — especially when things get a little off kilter like they are now.
We are going to be talking about CTPAT because while there's value in the program, it's been around for over 20 years, and it's far from perfect. We’re going to be raising some of those issues and discussing them. We will be asking a couple of tough questions of the panelists because it’s important to have these conversations: Do you find that any of the current CTPAT requirements are unrealistic, and why? Do you think the CTPAT program is objective enough? What challenges do you face in making sure your business partners are compliant?
AIAG: What do you mean when you say “objective enough”?
Beddows: The CTPAT program has minimum security criteria, which are the requirements that a company must meet to be in the program. Because the program was built to be all-inclusive — in other words, you could be an owner, operator, highway carrier, a company on the northern border with one employee, or a multinational importer with 100,000 employees — they all must meet the same minimum-security criteria. To do that operationally, there must be flexibility in the interpretation of that language. So, it's good because it allows companies of all sizes and types to be in the program; it's bad because it gives that interpretation to government officials who are validating the criteria. Just like no two people are alike, any two supply chain security specialists are not alike and may interpret the criteria differently, so it’s possible to see inconsistencies in how companies are assessed. Sometimes that can be challenging.
AIAG: Why should people attend your session at the AIAG North America Customs & Trade Town Hall, and what can they expect to get out of it?
Beddows: People should attend this session because CTPAT and AEO are continually growing around the world in terms of membership and implementation in different countries and regions. It's been around for 20 years, so it’s not going anywhere. It remains relevant. To use the fast lanes at the Northern or Southern borders you must be a CTPAT member, and the auto industry relies on that benefit. These programs are voluntary, but because of the unique auto industry in North America and the need to continually cross back and forth on the borders during assembly, CTPAT has almost become a mandatory program. The bigger OEMs say, “If you want to haul our parts across the border, you must be a CTPAT highway carrier because we have to know that our goods are traveling through those fast lanes so we have predictability.” This discussion will be very relevant to the auto industry.
AIAG: What action would you like people to take when they walk out of your session?
Beddows: I would like people to start thinking critically about the future of CTPAT and what they need from the program for it to be meaningful, because at the end of the day, it's a partnership program and trade is supposed to have a voice.
Register now for AIAG’s North America Customs & Trade Town Hall, a hybrid event occurring in person and online.
