QUESTION: I am experiencing really terrible customer service with our broker. I am not sure if it’s a result of our team not knowing any better, becoming lax and accepting bad service or if I have too high expectations. I’ve considered inviting them in for an overview of our product line but they are […]
QUESTION: We are in the process of conducting an RFP for freight forwarding services. Several forwarders have indicated that they do not conduct denied party screening. As part of our own compliance program, we are screening parties to the transaction. We also think the forwarders should be screening. Is it a […]
QUESTION: We would like to create a scorecard for our customs broker that goes beyond the normal Post Entry Audit sort of metrics. Does anyone have a sample template for the metrics used to score their customs brokers performance? Any other ideas of metrics that we can use to measure performance? ************** Answers: The below […]
QUESTION: If a broker cleared the shipment(s) using an invalid POA, does that invalidate the clearance? Do we need to have the entries cancelled and re-processed by one or our brokers with a valid POA? If so are we subject to possible re-delivery? All three shipments cleared in late Feb. and the products have […]
QUESTION: I have 2 questions about signing a contract with a Customs broker: 1) What is a typical dollar amount of liability that an importer should agree to on the contract? Our broker’s contract states that they will have a $60/shipment liability. Is that appropriate, or is it way too low? 2) Our […]
QUESTION: Do any members have experience in dealing with “4PLs”? A company is considering “outsourcing” the export/imports process to a third party that is not a forwarder or broker – this third party would be the 4PL. The 4PL would handle logistics and clearance processes, and work with forwarders and brokers. The main question we […]
QUESTION: I am not happy with our current customs broker. I was asked by senior management to justify and build a business case to change this broker. Has anyone in the membership done this and if so would you be willing to share the format and arguments that you used to do so ? ************* […]
QUESTION: A freight forwarder recently established a customs brokerage within the company but as a separate entity. He currently has employees that work for, and are paid by, the brokerage. In addition, there are three employees that are being trained to perform brokerage functions that are employees of the freight forwarder. The question is, when […]
QUESTION: I am interested to know what types of monthly reports and KPI’s specific to Customs that others in the membership require from their brokers. ************** Answers: We don’t get a lot of reporting sent to us from the broker because we have the ability to build and request customized reporting from their system any […]
QUESTION: Does anyone in the community have a broker audit checklist they would be willing to share? ========== Answer: See attached. http://www.icpainc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Copy-of-Broker-Audit-Checklist.xlsx ==========
QUESTION: I have taken over less than a year ago as the customs manager at a company and have been trying to obtain complete entry package records from a current broker for almost as long. The broker requirement is to send complete scanned entry packages (3461, 7501, commercial invoices, BOL/AWB, certificates, their invoice, etc.) to […]
QUESTION: Would any one of the ICPA members being willing to share a template they used to RFQ Customs brokerage services? ===================== ANSWER: Linked is a template I used for a freight forwarding and brokerage RFP last year. http://www.icpainc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/U.S.-Import-Export-Logistics-RFP-Template.docx
