[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87387-87389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24464]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection


Continuing Education Requirement for Licensed Customs Brokers

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: General notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document announces that individual customs broker license 
holders may begin completing qualified continuing broker education 
courses on January 1, 2025 (compliance date) and, accordingly, 20 
credits as the prorated number of required credit hours for the 
triennial period beginning on February 1, 2024, and ending on January 
31, 2027. Further, this notice announces the criteria that U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection (CBP) used to select qualified accreditors, the 
list of CBP-selected qualified accreditors, and the period of award for 
these accreditors.

DATES: Individual brokers may begin completing qualified continuing 
broker education courses on January 1, 2025. The initial three-year 
period of award for CBP-selected qualified accreditors will be from 
June 2, 2024, through June 1, 2027.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elena D. Ryan, Special Advisor, Broker 
Continuing Education, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of Trade, U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, at (202) 302-2426 or 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#82c1cdccd6cbccd7cbccc5c7c6d7c1c3d6cbcdccc2e1e0f2ace6eaf1ace5edf4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="31727e7f65787f64787f76747564727065787e7f715253411f5559421f565e47">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Section 641 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1641), 
provides that individuals and business entities must hold a valid 
customs broker's license and permit to transact customs business on 
behalf of others. The statute also sets forth standards for the 
issuance of broker licenses and permits, provides for disciplinary 
action against customs brokers in the form of suspension or revocation 
of such licenses and permits, and provides for the assessment of 
monetary penalties against customs brokers. The statute also provides 
for the assessment of monetary penalties against persons for conducting 
customs business without the required broker's license.
    Based upon 19 U.S.C. 1641, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
has promulgated regulations setting forth additional obligations of 
customs brokers pertinent to the conduct of their customs business, in 
part 111 of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 
111). Part 111 provides the regulations regarding the licensing and 
granting of permits to persons desiring to transact customs business as 
customs brokers. These regulations also include the qualifications 
required of applicants, the procedures for applying for licenses and 
permits, the duties and responsibilities of individual brokers, the 
grounds and procedures for disciplining individual brokers, including 
the assessment of monetary penalties, and the revocation or suspension 
of licenses and permits. CBP has also updated part 111 to require 
individual brokers to satisfy a continuing education requirement.
    CBP believes that maintaining current knowledge of customs laws and 
procedures is essential for customs brokers to meet their legal duties. 
Requiring a customs broker to fulfill a continuing education 
requirement is the most effective means to ensure that the customs 
broker keeps up with an ever-changing customs practice after passing 
the broker exam and subsequently receiving the license. Therefore, on 
October 28, 2020, CBP published an advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking (ANPRM) in the Federal Register (85 FR 68260), soliciting 
comments on a potential framework of continuing education requirements 
for licensed customs brokers. On September 10, 2021, CBP published a 
notice of

[[Page 87388]]

proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (86 FR 50794), in 
which CBP responded to the 29 comments it received in response to the 
ANPRM, and adopted some of the suggestions proposed by the commenters. 
CBP thus drafted the NPRM accordingly and announced proposed regulatory 
amendments to include a proposed framework for individual customs 
broker license holders (individual brokers) to administratively 
maintain their license through completion of qualified continuing 
broker education.
    On June 23, 2023, CBP published a final rule in the Federal 
Register (88 FR 41224). In the final rule, CBP responded to the 70 
comments it received in response to the NPRM, and adopted as final, 
with changes, the proposed amendments. The final rule added a new 
subpart F in part 111, requiring continuing education for individual 
brokers and setting forth the framework for administering the 
requirement. In addition, CBP stated that it would announce, in a 
Federal Register notice following publication of the final rule, the 
date on which individual brokers may begin completing qualified 
continuing broker education courses and the prorated number of required 
continuing broker education credit hours for the triennial period 
beginning on February 1, 2024, and ending on January 31, 2027 (the 
2024-2027 triennial period). The final rule also noted that CBP will 
announce the date on which qualified continuing broker education 
courses will be available to individual brokers to begin meeting the 
requirement and will publish an initial list of available qualified 
continuing broker education opportunities on CBP.gov. Lastly, CBP will 
periodically publish notices in the Federal Register announcing the 
criteria that CBP will use to select an accreditor, the period during 
which CBP will accept applications by potential accreditors, and the 
period of award for CBP-selected accreditors.

II. CBP Implementation of the Continuing Education Requirement for 
Licensed Customs Brokers

A. Compliance Date and Prorated Number of Required Continuing Broker 
Education Credit Hours for the 2024-2027 Triennial Period

    CBP has now completed full implementation of the framework for 
administering the new continuing broker education requirement. Thus, 
CBP is ready to announce that individual brokers may begin completing 
qualified continuing broker education courses on January 1, 2025 
(compliance date). On this same date, qualified continuing broker 
education courses will be made available to individual brokers to begin 
meeting the requirement. The initial list of available qualified 
continuing broker education opportunities, as well as free qualified 
continuing broker education activities available to individual brokers 
through CBP and other U.S. government agency offerings, may be found at 
CBP.gov. CBP believes that individual brokers will be able to fulfill 
the continuing broker education requirement through the free, online-
based trainings that CBP and other U.S. government agencies offer, 
alone.
    The CBP regulations in section 111.102(b) require individual 
brokers to complete at least 36 continuing education credits of 
qualifying continuing broker education per triennial period, with 
limited exceptions. In the final rule, CBP announced that, to allow for 
full implementation of the continuing education requirement, CBP would 
reduce the 36 continuing education credits required to be completed for 
the 2024-2027 triennial period by six (6) credit hours for 
approximately every six (6) months that elapse between February 1, 
2024, and the compliance date on which individual brokers may begin 
completing qualified continuing broker education courses. To give 
individual brokers additional time to prepare for the new continuing 
education requirement, CBP is reducing the number of required credit 
hours that individual brokers must earn to 20 credit hours for the 
2024-2027 triennial period (with certification of completion of the 
credits by February 1, 2027). This reduced number of credits applies to 
the 2024-2027 triennial period only. Individual brokers are required to 
earn the full 36 credit hours for all triennial periods following the 
2024-2027 triennial period.

B. CBP-Selected Accreditors

    In order to supplement the available trainings offered by CBP and 
other U.S. government agencies, CBP selected accreditors to administer 
the accreditation of additional broker training and educational 
activities offered by providers other than by a U.S. government agency.
    Section 111.103(c) sets forth the process used by CBP for selection 
of accreditors, based on a Request for Information (RFI) and a Request 
for Proposal (RFP) announced through the System for Award Management 
(SAM) or any other electronic system for award management approved by 
the U.S. General Services Administration, in accordance with the 
Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR 1.000 et seq.), for a specific 
period of award, subject to renewal. On August 29, 2023, CBP announced 
through SAM an RFI (Notice ID 201400XX) seeking information from 
organizations interested in establishing a relationship with CBP to 
review and accredit commercial training, programs, course materials, 
and other activities relating to the new continuing education 
requirement for licensed customs brokers. CBP received replies from 11 
organizations expressing such interest. In response to the replies CBP 
received, on February 6, 2024, CBP announced through SAM a non-
traditional RFP (Notice ID 70B06C24R00000030) to solicit applications 
to become approved accreditors of qualifying continuing customs broker 
education. The RFP set forth the following criteria to be used for the 
selection of accreditors:
    <bullet> Identification of at least one key official in the 
applicant's organization that holds an individual customs broker 
license.
    <bullet> Demonstration of knowledge of international trade laws, 
customs laws and regulations, and general customs practices for 
imported goods and goods subject to drawback.
    <bullet> Demonstration of knowledge of other U.S. Government 
agencies that are involved in transactions of international trade.
    <bullet> A description of the applicant's process for handling 
accreditation requests, beginning with how an individual submits a 
training or educational activity proposed for credit to the applicant, 
including detail on electronic and online methods for submitting 
materials for consideration.
    <bullet> Confirmation that the applicant's process for handling 
accreditation requests uses a secure online (web-based) repository and 
an overview of the basic functionality of the envisioned online 
repository, and confirmation that the applicant can protect any 
business sensitive or proprietary information collected in the 
requests.
    <bullet> Identification of up to five (5) professional references 
with contact information, who should be familiar with the applicant's 
relevant professional history, job performance, and have the knowledge 
to determine if the applicant is capable of conducting the kind of 
complex work described in this RFP. Additionally, the applicant was 
required to provide contact information that included an individual's 
full name, entity employing the individual (if applicable), email 
address, and telephone number.

[[Page 87389]]

    <bullet> Disclosure of any known potential organizational or 
personal conflicts of interest, any applicant personnel who have 
previously been employed by CBP, and any applicant personnel who 
perform critical functions for one or more other applicants applying to 
be approved accreditors under this RFP.
    <bullet> Demonstration of the applicant's ability and commitment to 
complete the accreditation process, resulting in transmission of an 
approval or denial of credit to the requestor, within four (4) business 
days of request submission.
    CBP evaluated the applications received in response to the RFP 
based on the above-mentioned criteria and selected the following 
accreditors:

<bullet> E-Merchants Trade Council Inc. (EMTC)-Global Trade 
Professionals Alliance (GTPA)-Practera
<bullet> International Compliance Professionals Association (ICPA)
<bullet> National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America 
(NCBFAA)
<bullet> Sandler Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
<bullet> Tr[uuml]Trade Solutions, Inc.

The initial three-year period of award for CBP-selected accreditors 
will be from June 2, 2024, through June 1, 2027. The list of CBP-
selected accreditors may be found at CBP.gov.

    Dated: October 11, 2024.
AnnMarie R. Highsmith,
Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade.
[FR Doc. 2024-24464 Filed 10-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>