Plans to update statutory language to allow for CBP to use advance cargo data "for any lawful purpose" is an early area of concern among trade groups that submitted comments to the office of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., about a draft customs modernization bill (see 2111030039). That provision "is a significant amendment to the Trade Act of 2002 manifest requirements and will present a challenge regarding how the agency will merge and crosscheck data received from multiple parties," the Express Association of America told Cassidy, EAA Executive Director Michael Mullen said by email.
Licensed Customs Broker
Customs brokers are entities who assist importers in meeting federal requirements governing imports into the United States. Brokers can be private individuals, partnerships, associations or corporations licensed, regulated and empowered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs brokers oversee transactions related to customs entry and admissibility of merchandise, product classification, customs valuation, payment of duties, taxes, or other charges such as refunds, rebates, and duty drawbacks. To obtain a customs broker license, an individual must pass the U.S. Customs Broker License Exam. Customs brokers are not government employees and should not be confused with CBP officials. There are approximately 11,000 active licensed customs brokers in the United States.
Comments filed in response to CBP's proposal to require 36 hours of continuing education every three years for customs brokers were largely supportive and suggested only minor tweaks. As of Nov 16, there were 70 comments posted to the docket, which closed Nov. 9. Several of the filings copied language from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America submission (see 2111010040).
Cross-border transaction attorney Robert Kossick has joined Harris Bricken's Washington, D.C.-based international trade practice, the firm announced. A licensed customs broker, Kossick has experience in "import compliance and enforcement, export control and economic sanction, and supply chain security issues," Harris Bricken said. Kossick has worked at a variety of firms in Florida, Texas and Washington state, as well as internationally, over the past 25 years.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America remains supportive of CBP's efforts to impose new continuing education requirements for customs brokers (see 2109090030), but requested some changes from the proposed rule in recently submitted comments. The NCBFAA would like to see CBP include provisions for recognizing 30-minute trainings as the smallest unit of continuing education training credits (half credits) and for full credits to include time to allow for breaks. It also said it agreed with CBP's change to 36 hours of education every three years, from 40 hours.
CBP plans to deploy a new bill form that will allow for the option to "electronically view certain bills, specifically supplemental bills, certain reimbursable bills, and non-reimbursable/miscellaneous bills," the agency said in an Oct. 13 notice. A new ACE report will "allow importers of record, licensed customs brokers, and other ACE account users to electronically view unpaid, open bills starting at the time that physical bills are created until the bills are paid," it said. CBP plans to "transition from the current bill format, known as CBP Form 6084, to a new CBP Bill Form that is enhanced to include additional information for the public. CBP's adoption of the new CBP Bill Form will enable the public to identify the legal authority for the bill, the origin of the bill, contact information for additional questions about the bill, and the consequences for not paying the bill." The new form and the electronic viewing option will be available as of Oct. 18.
A customs broker exam taker who is appealing his failing score is asking the Court of International Trade to overturn CBP’s denial of credit for seven questions from the April 2018 test. In a brief filed Oct. 1, Byungmin Chae says CBP erroneously graded his customs broker exam, denying him a broker license on its mistaken finding that he did not score 75 percent or higher.
CBP cut back its planned continuing education requirements to 36 hours every three years after previously suggesting 40 hours over the same period (see 2010270038), it said in notice. "Requiring more than 36 hours of continuing broker education per triennial period could be burdensome for the customs broker community (especially individual brokers operating as or working for small businesses) and a lower requirement would be insufficient to ensure that individual brokers keep abreast of changes in customs and related laws," it said. An agency official said in May that the change was likely (see 2105040004).
Registration for the Oct. 21 customs broker license exam is open until Sept. 21, CBP said in a CSMS message. The agency is “offering both a remote proctored and in-person Customs Broker License Exam (CBLE) delivery option,” it said.
A selling agent working as intermediary between European wineries and U.S. wine wholesalers has enough of a financial interest to be the importer of record, CBP said in a June 30 ruling. Quality Brand Imports requested a ruling from CBP on whether it is able to serve as the IOR even though it never acts as a buyer or takes ownership of the goods, acting only as a facilitator.in the import and sales process.
Importers, exporters and customs brokers have until June 11 to file objections to the release of data on shipments of plants and wildlife regulated by the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999 and from 2015 to 2020, FWS said in a notice on its website. The agency says it has received a Freedom of Information Act request for data on shipments in its Law Enforcement Management Information System database, and will release the data if no objections are received by that date.