1.23.2006 ET

(CSRwire) MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2006--UPS's global trade technology has been selected to showcase customs compliance this week at an annual conference of the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI).

A panel of judges representing the AAEI selected just five technology-based solutions from vendor applications for display at the first annual Technology Showcase held at the association's 2006 Western Regional Conference & Expo. The UPS solution combines consulting expertise with the advanced technology of UPS TradeSense(TM) to help customers secure their global supply chains by complying with the U.S. Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) initiative.

"Businesses count on UPS to deliver the globe," said Dave Barnes, UPS senior vice president and CIO. "Our involvement in the C-TPAT initiative and our development of systems like TradeSense are part of our strategy to synchronize global commerce for our customers."

C-TPAT is a joint government-business initiative designed to build cooperative relationships that strengthen overall supply chain and border security. Through this initiative, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can provide the highest level of security through close cooperation with the ultimate owners of the supply chain: importers, carriers, brokers, warehouse operators and manufacturers.

UPS's C-TPAT solution begins as a consulting engagement to baseline a customer's existing global security program. During all phases of the C-TPAT certification process, TradeSense provides a mechanism for measuring timeline achievement and establishing follow-up reminders with the customer's supply chain partners. Using the controls and record-keeping tools available in TradeSense, customers are able to meet the C-TPAT requirements established by CBP.

Once a customer is C-TPAT certified, TradeSense assists in maintaining compliance by enabling customers to manage suppliers and related parties. TradeSense screens each party related to a given shipment at various phases throughout the supply chain, alerting customers via e-mail or automated report when "denied" parties are identified.

"With technology like TradeSense, UPS helps businesses grow, manage costs and improve their customer service by integrating technology with business processes to demystify global trade and optimize supply chains," Barnes noted.

C-TPAT compliance is just one part of UPS's overall global trade compliance effort. The company announced last year that it was one of the first transportation carriers to deploy a trade processing system developed by CBP as part of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) program. ACE automates the flow of information about packages approaching U.S. borders in trucks to make it easier for customs agents to decide which they want to inspect.

While CBP has yet to deploy ACE for air transportation, UPS implemented a software program it developed called Target Search in 2002 to assist CBP officials inspecting shipments coming through Worldport, UPS's largest international air hub in Louisville. Like the ACE system, Target Search provides electronic information in advance to CBP officials so they can effectively target and select shipments for inspection ahead of time, expediting the customs clearance process.

UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.

Copyright Business Wire 2006

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