WASHINGTON -- Customs and Border Protection officials will meet with their Chinese counterparts next month to discuss the details of carrying out joint security validations under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.

Michael Mullen, assistant commissioner for international affairs and trade relations, made the announcement Friday at a meeting of COAC, the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Agencies.

Mullen said that the meeting will review C-TPAT validation procedures so “the Chinese are comfortable with the criteria.”

The Chinese have refused to admit U.S. personnel since Customs first began requiring validation of foreign manufacturers’ supply chains. Mullen said Beijing's stance changed in June, during a visit by Customs Commissioner Ralph Basham.

Mullen said that China Customs had given the idea of joint validation strong support. Resistance to admitting U.S. personnel came from other sectors of the government.

The joint U.S.-China validations will not affect the third-party validation pilot program, Mullen said. Congress required Customs to establish a pilot program for third-party validation in the SAFE Port Act.

Customs chose China to be the test site for the pilot, because of its stand toward U.S. inspectors. For lack of validation, Customs said there were more than 300 U.S. importers that sourced solely from China that couldn’t get the highest level of C-TPAT benefits.

When the pilot program began in July, Customs qualified a number of third parties to collect validation data in China. However, importers’ response so far has been well below expectations. Only 11 companies have signed up for the pilot.