Broker Responsibilities and Licensing
Broker Responsibilities and Licensing
This domain tests how an individual becomes a licensed customs broker, what a license versus a permit allows, and how CBP disciplines brokers who fail their duties. Expect questions on eligibility, the exam, responsible supervision, recordkeeping, and grounds for suspension or revocation.
License, permit, and duties
- An individual license requires: at least 21 years old, U.S. citizenship, not a federal employee, good moral character, and a passing score on the broker exam.
- The exam is 80 multiple-choice questions in 4.5 hours; 75% is passing.
- A license is national in scope, but transacting customs business at a port requires a permit; a national permit covers all ports.
- The broker must exercise responsible supervision and control over all employees who handle customs business. Clerical, secretarial, and accounting work is not customs business.
- Records must be retained five years and produced to CBP on request.
- Disciplinary grounds include fraud, negligence, false statements, and failure to comply with customs law; sanctions range from a monetary penalty to suspension or revocation.
Worked example
An unlicensed clerk files an entry summary with an invented HTS number and omits a Section 301 duty line. The broker says the clerk acted alone. That defense fails: the license carries a nondelegable duty of supervision. Because no review process existed, the broker faces a penalty action and possible disciplinary proceedings, even without personal involvement in the filing.
Traps
- Treating a license as port-specific and a permit as national - it is the reverse.
- Letting an unlicensed employee make the final classification or valuation decision.
- Assuming customs business covers only document filing; it also covers classification, valuation, and payment.