CBP Updates COAC on its CBP Officer Position Training and the Customs Broker Exam
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on February 6, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss, and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on, various customs and trade issues.
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This is Part IV of a multi-part series of summaries of the February 6, 2004 COAC meeting and focuses on CBP's hiring and training of CBP Officers and CBP Agricultural Specialists and the Customs Broker examination, highlights of which are provided below. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.
CBP Training for CBP Officer Position
During the February 6, 2004 COAC meeting, CBP officials provided an update on its creation of a single CBP Officer to work in both the cargo and passenger environments to carry out the functions previously performed by three separate inspectors: Customs Inspector, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Inspector, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Inspector. CBP also provided COAC an update on the establishment of a CBP Agriculture Specialist position to work with CBP Officers.
Newly hired CBP Officers are now being trained. At the February 6, 2004 COAC meeting, CBP officials state that, to date, six classes (of approximately 48 CBP Officers each) of newly hired CBP Officers have graduated from "basic training." According to CBP, 2300 CBP officers are expected to complete their "basic training" in 2004.
CBP officials state that after graduation, the new hires are then put through a system of "modular" training (which consists of 21 separate "modules"), which is expected to be completed during the CBP Officer's first two years of employment.
CBP to begin transition of existing employees within next 60 days. CBP Officers states that within the next 60 days CBP will begin CBP Officer training for existing employees. CBP states that the training will consist of 21 modules and will be conducted in a staged fashion.
CBP also states those Agriculture Inspectors that do not wish to transition into the CBP Officer position will instead be converted to CBP Agricultural Specialists, a process which CBP states is expected to begin within the next 60 days. According to CBP, there are expected to be approximately 1500 CBP Agricultural Specialists.
CBP also notes that the transition to "one uniform" for its inspectional workforce is under way and on target to be completed by July 2004.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 11/03/03 and 09/08/03 news, 03110320 and 03090805, for previous BP summaries on CBP's CBP Officer.)
CBP is Reviewing Questions, Etc. for the Customs Broker Exam
Another issue discussed at the February 6, 2004 COAC meeting was the Customs Broker examination, including the pass rate for that exam in recent years. CBP sources noted that the pass rates for recent Customs Broker exams were 16% in October 2003, 7% in April 2003, 15% in October 2002, and 3% in April 2002.
According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources, the appeals process for the Customs Broker exam has been set up and will be overseen by the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning of DHS' Bureau of Transportation and Security (BTS).
CBP sources also addressed COAC concerns by stating that they are looking at the issue of the Customs Broker exam and are striving for a balanced and fair exam. Specifically, CBP sources noted that they are taking a look at the specific language of the questions on the exam in order to make sure that they are clear. One meeting participant noted that in the past the trade has had problems with long, confusing questions that contained double negatives, etc.
CBP sources further noted that they have also polled the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc. (NCBFAA) and the field in order to see if there were certain subject matter areas that should be included/excluded on the Customs Broker exam.
See ITT's Online Archives or 02/10/04, 02/12/04, and 02/17/04 news, 04021015, 04021205, and 04021705, for Parts I, II and III of this multi-part series of summaries on the February 6, 2004 COAC meeting.