CBP in 'Final Review and Selection Stage' for Broker Continuing Ed Accreditors, Official Says

FORT LAUDERDALE -- CBP in the final review and selection stage" for accreditors of continuing education for customs brokers, and will announce "in the coming months" the start date for broker continuing education requirements, the number of hours required for this triennial reporting period and the names of the approved accreditors, said Shari McCann, director of CBP's Cargo Security and Controls Division, on April 17.

The announcement will be made through a Federal Register notice, on the CBP website, and in a CSMS message, McCann said, speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference.

This triennial period will require less than 36 hours because CBP is changing the rules "midstream," McCann said. CBP is working on its own education that will qualify for the requirement, and its webinars, including NCSD webinars and the trade summit, will count toward the requirement, McCann said.

Education during the current triennial period and before the soon-to-be announced date can't count as credit hours because the program isn't "turned on" yet, McCann said. Nothing will count toward the triennial period until the start date for the program is announced.

While CBP is working to select accreditors, it's also important that companies start looking at their own internal training and ensuring that it has the context and the time requirements you are going to need, said Brian Barber, vice president for U.S. brokerage operations and government affairs at Willson International. This is important as companies are going to potentially have more employees who will need to come to events like the NCBFAA conference or participate in the Certified Customs Specialist program, Barber said.

CBP has more than 1,300 customs brokers registered for the May 1 customs broker license exam (see 2312120046), with about 1,100 of those registered for the in-person exam and the remaining ones for the remote exam, said Omar Qureshi, CBP's Broker Management Branch chief. CBP is listening to feedback and partnering with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee broker modernization working group to work through a series of ideas to reenvision the exam, Miller said.

CBP is continuing to urge customs brokers to submit their triennial status reports from the 2021 to 2024 period, Qureshi said. This can be done electronically via the eCBP portal to save time and to "further modernize broker operations," he said. CBP has sent out suspension warning letters to each licensed broker who hasn't filed a report, and failure to fill the report within 60 days of the warning letter and pay the required fee will lead to revocation of the license, Qureshi said.

As of "early 2024," 92% of license holders had filed the report, he said.