Reminder - Revised High Security Seal Standard - ISO IS 17712:2010 Effective March 1, 2012

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Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association Feb 07, 2012

CIFFA would like to remind Members of the New Seal Standards effective March 1, 2012. Several ocean carriers are also notifying customers of the change and Partners in Protection (PIP) members were notified in December with the following:

Effective March 1, 2012, the current International Organization for Standardization (ISO) mechanical seal standard (ISO / PAS 17712) will be replaced with a new ISO standard – ISO 17712:2010.  The new standard has the following compliance requirements:

1)     Testing to determine a seal’s classification for physical strength (as barriers of entry);

2)     Process auditing of the manufacturer’s security-related business practices;

3)     Testing (and PASS grade) of a seals ability to indicate evidence of tampering;

4)     A new 18mm minimum width diameter for bolt seals.

The new seal standard requires documentation of compliance by properly accredited test laboratories or business process auditors, which must have ISO 17712 included in their scope of competence. Mechanical seals, which have not been certified as complying with the new compliance requirements after March 1, 2012, will not be accepted as ISO compliant seals.

Third Generation of the ISO 17712 - ISO 17712 (2010) was first published in September 2010 and included an 18-month transition period (to March 2012) to deal with technical issues.  The new standard is the third generation of 17712. The first was a Publically Available Specification (PAS) published in 2003 and the second was a revision to PAS 17712 published in 2006.  Each revision builds on previous requirements.

We encourage our members to utilize their existing seals already in stock and to carefully plan future seal purchases to ensure that seals affixed to containers as of March 1, 2012 are compliant with ISO IS 17712:2010.

Benefits of the new seal standards include the reduced possibility of:

• Cargo theft or tampering;
• Unauthorized material being inserted into the container;
• Shipping delays that result when seals are missing or broken.

For more information please visit the World Customs Organization (WCO) website at www.wcoomd.org or contact the PIP program at PIP-PEP@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca