Broker License Exam Test Taker Contests 11 Questions on 2022 Exam

Question 14 of the exam said a monetary penalty will be assessed if no entry has been made for the goods, but the owner, operator of an imported vehicle or agent fails to notify CBP no later than 20 calendar days after landing. Chen said that while the question is "premised on the existence of a mandatory penalty," CBP's regulations say that failure to provide such notification "may" result in a penalty.

As a result, CBP is wrong in basing its answer to the question on the relevant regulation because "that regulation is discretionary and CBP’s wording in Exam Question 14 does not permit any discretion," Chen argued. "A flaw in the premise of an exam question disqualifies the exam question and the exam-taker must be credited with the correct answer," the complaint said.

Regarding question 29 on the exam, Chen said he "ultimately relied upon common knowledge because Exam Question 29 was ambiguous at best." The question asked for the type of entry required for goods entered into the customs territory of NASA from space or from a foreign country as part of an international NASA program. CBP said the answer was "entry is not required," while Chen said the answer was "formal entry."

Chen said question 36 violates CBP's guidelines for writing questions, noting the guidelines say questions must be fair and that fairness includes consideration of the "time needed to read and research a question and to do any calculations" and bars too lengthy or time-consuming questions. The test taker said this question violates this provision with its "268 words" and "dozens of clauses." The question, the complaint said, "was too long, too dense, too unwieldly, and too confusing to be considered a fair exam question."

Regarding question 38, Chen argued that CBP failed to account for the principle of ejusdem generis, a tool of construction used to interpret the Harmonized Tariff Schedule meaning "of the same kind," when scoring a question on the classification of a book of crossword puzzles.

Likewise, Chen said he correctly identified valid HTS subheadings for questions about a children's detangling hairbrush with plastic handle, fish packed in pieces in glass jars, a 1,080-pixel high-definition digital camera with an interchangeable lens and three-inch LCD, and a thick salsa in a 7oz. jar.

Chen said question 54, which concerns what actions a trademark owner must take to continue the recordation of a given product, doesn't make sense. CBP said in the question that the "trademark is for an item with a gray market counterpart the owner would like protection against based on physical and material differences." Chen argued that this sentence is "nonsensical and therefore nullifies Exam Question 54."

The test taker also challenged question 63, saying CBP failed to specify if overtime services had been authorized. The question asked for the presentation date and time for non-opening moment quota purposes for a shipment that arrives on a Monday at 11:05 a.m. EST but has an error-free entry summary submitted with payment on Thursday at 4:40 p.m. EST.

Lastly, regarding question 78, which asked about scenarios in which a broker can bill a freight forwarder for customs duties without sending a copy to the importer, Chen said that he isn't responsible for interpreting the question to "make it intelligible." The test taker said the question was unintelligible and should have asked about when a broker can "collect from the freight forwarder the customs duties that the broker calculated that the importer owes to CBP and that the broker will pay on the importer’s behalf to CBP."