Standards & frameworks
Supply chain, logistics and customs: standards and frameworks
Supply chain security standards, distribution practice and customs programmes for the businesses that store, move and clear goods: what each one asks, who certifies, inspects or grants the status, and how they fit together so one set of controls serves several schemes.
About this family
Security, integrity and customs status for goods in motion
This family gathers the standards, schemes and customs programmes that apply once goods leave the producer: in a warehouse, on a truck, at an airport or at a border. Some protect the cargo itself against theft and tampering, such as TAPA FSR for facilities and TSR for trucking. Some protect the condition of the product: good distribution practice (GDP) for medicines, IATA CEIV Pharma and Fresh for temperature-sensitive air cargo, and BRCGS Storage and Distribution for food, packaging and consumer products. Others are customs programmes: AEO, within the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards, and CTPAT in the United States, where the customs administration validates the operator and grants the status. ISO 20400 gives guidance on sustainable procurement, and EU rules such as EUDR and CBAM reach into the data suppliers must provide. The requests usually come from outside the business: a shipper’s security requirement, a pharmaceutical principal’s quality agreement, a forwarder’s customs ambitions or an inspector’s visit.
These schemes overlap more than their owners’ documents suggest. Risk assessment of sites and lanes, access and seal control, personnel screening, business partner checks, incident handling and records are asked for by almost all of them, in different words. ISO 28000, the certifiable management system standard for security including the supply chain, can sit underneath as the frame, with TAPA, AEO or CTPAT criteria mapped onto it, while GDP and CEIV add the temperature and product-integrity layer. No certificate confers customs status; only the customs administration grants it. Sterling’s expert and experienced consultants start from the obligation that matters most commercially, map the others onto the same controls and keep one evidence set. You choose Design™, where we develop and your team implements under our supervision, or Drive™, where we design and build under your approval. Effivity, used in 50+ countries, is included at no additional cost, so partner checks, incidents, audits and corrective actions sit in one place.
In this family
16 standards, frameworks and schemes in this family
Cargo security schemes, customs programmes, distribution practice and procurement guidance, each with its own route to recognition.
- ISO 28000ISO 28000 certification consulting: security risks assessed and treated from suppliers to customers, with plans and controls ready for an accredited audit.
- GDPGDP compliance consulting for medicine wholesalers, 3PLs and carriers: quality kept from dock to pharmacy, every batch traceable, ready for inspection.
- EcoVadisEcoVadis rating consulting: evidence on environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement, prepared for the assessment EcoVadis runs.
- TAPA FSR / TSRTAPA FSR and TSR certification for warehouses and trucking: what TAPA covers, who asks for it and how Sterling prepares your sites and fleet for the audit.
- AEOAuthorised Economic Operator (AEO) readiness: what customs examines, who can apply and how Sterling prepares your controls and evidence for the customs visit.
- C-TPATC-TPAT requirements and validation readiness for US importers and overseas suppliers: the Minimum Security Criteria, CBP's process and how Sterling helps.
- IATA CEIV Pharma / FreshIATA CEIV Pharma and CEIV Fresh certification readiness for air cargo: what the programmes cover, who asks for them and how Sterling prepares your operation.
- ISO 20400ISO 20400 sustainable procurement guidance explained: what it covers, who asks for it, why there is no certificate and how Sterling helps you apply it.
- ISO 22005ISO 22005 certification and requirements: design, test and prove feed and food traceability, then prepare for an accredited audit. All-inclusive support.
- FSC / PEFC chain of custodyFSC and PEFC chain of custody certification and requirements: FSC-STD-40-004 V3-1, PEFC ST 2002:2020, the audit route and cost factors, with Sterling.
- CBAMCBAM compliance and requirements explained: authorised declarant status, the 50-tonne threshold, verified embedded emissions and how Sterling helps you prepare.
- ISO/IEC 27036ISO/IEC 27036 implementation and requirements explained: the four parts on supplier and cloud security, who uses them, and how Sterling helps you prove it.
- ISO 22318ISO 22313 and ISO 22317 / 22318 guidance explained: applying ISO 22301, business impact analysis and supplier continuity. Not certifiable; how Sterling helps.
- EUDR / CBAMEUDR compliance and requirements for cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya and wood: due diligence, risk assessment and the 30 December 2026 date.
- BRCGS Storage & DistributionBRCGS Storage and Distribution certification and Agents and Brokers: Issue 4 and Issue 3 requirements, scopes, audits and cost factors, with Sterling's support.
- ISO 9001 / 45001 for logisticsISO 9001 certification consulting: a quality management system built with your people, evidence prepared and support until an accredited body certifies you.
Each card opens the page for that standard, scheme or regulation. ISO 28000, the security management system standard, has its own page under Governance, risk and resilience. Sterling does not certify, validate or grant status; the certification body, the scheme owner, the competent authority or the customs administration decides.
- 60+countries where Sterling has delivered certification
- 21countries with a Sterling office, eight regions, one coordinated team
- 2003the year the group began implementing ISO management systems; the same method, refined, since
- 8,100+client engagements across the group, from single-site SMEs to multinationals
FAQs
Supply chain security standards: common questions
Family-level answers. Each standard’s own page goes into the detail.
Which supply chain standard should we start with?
Start with the one a customer, principal or regulator already requires, because it sets the scope and the date. A medicines distributor starts with GDP, since its wholesale distribution authorisation depends on it. A warehouse or carrier handling high-value goods usually starts with TAPA FSR or TSR when a shipper asks for it. A business seeking faster, more predictable customs treatment looks at AEO or, for trade with the United States, CTPAT. Where several are requested and none is mandatory, a management system such as ISO 28000 gives a frame the others can be mapped onto.
Can we prepare for AEO, CTPAT, TAPA and ISO 28000 in one system?
Yes, as one set of controls and records, although each keeps its own assessment. Site and lane risk assessment, access control, seals, personnel checks, business partner requirements, incident handling and internal audit are shared; each scheme then adds its own criteria and evidence format. The assessments do not merge: customs validates AEO or CTPAT, a certification body audits ISO 28000, and TAPA’s scheme sets an independent audit or self-certification depending on the level required. What you save is the duplicated preparation, not the assessments.
Who assesses us, and what do they check?
It depends on the route. For ISO 28000, BRCGS Storage and Distribution and IATA CEIV, an independent body audits against the standard and decides on certification. For TAPA FSR and TSR, the level required decides between an independent audit and self-certification. For AEO and CTPAT, the customs administration validates the operator against its criteria and grants or refuses the status. For GDP, the competent authority inspects; in the EU it issues a GDP certificate or a statement of non-compliance. ISO 20400 is guidance and is not certified. Every assessor looks for evidence that controls run in daily work, not only written procedures. Sterling prepares you; it does not certify, validate or inspect.
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