Question: My company went to a hybrid format after COVID. Upper management is now looking at permanently going 100% remote. My concern is what would CBP require from us for an “office of record”. What have other brokers done that have gone 100% remote? Do you list the home address of your corporate license holder/someone […]
Question: I am over import compliance for a Germany company in the US. My manager in Germany is looking to have our US process mirror their European process of gathering shipment & customs clearance data in Excel and manually send it to the broker for clearance of each new booking. I feel a broker EDI […]
Question: Regarding the annual letter customs brokers are to send to importers within a 12-month period, we have the required statement (see below) on our signature AND on our invoice to the importer, therefore, are we still required to send a separate letter? I’m receiving conflicting information. If you are the importer of record, payment […]
Question: I found a couple answers to a like question on ICPA. If each invoice has 5 lines of the same HS code, yes, the broker can enter one line with the total value per invoice, I filed entries for many years. It has been about 2 since I filed. I am being told by […]
Question: If the qualifying officers, license holder leaves the company, how long does CBP give for the replacement? When we submit the termination letter to CBP does a replacement need to be named? I’m getting conflicting information and per the regs. is looks like a replacement must be made within 120 days. Answer 1: You […]
Question: We are looking to do a deep dive into our import brokerage costs. However, a big obstacle is how our AP handles and records the broker invoices. Typically, broker invoices have a variety of line item costs, which I have created a list of categories broker fee/entry fee ISF filing fee other govt agency […]
Question: For filing a type 86 entry with same MBL and multiple HBL, how does the CHB community handle obtaining POA’s for each consignee listed and also, how does the parcel carriers handle the POA for shipments under $800? I am new to the concept and need to better understand the procedures. Appreciate your input […]
Question: Hello: Can a U.S. Licensed Broker clear cargo shipped from Spain and imported into Guam since Guam is an insular possession of the United States? Answer 1: No, a US broker cannot file an entry in Guam. Even though Guam is an insular possession of the US, CBP does not have a presence on […]
Question: Can someone please share how they vet a potential new customs broker? Do you have questions that you ask potential new customs brokers? Also what are some of the KPI’s that you use to evaluate an existing broker? Thank You Answer 1: If you can I would make an onsite visit to the broker’s […]
Question: We are a broker and CBP issued a penalty for late uploading documents into DIS. CBP claimed that they sent a message of the request via ACE (to our software), but it was never received (this has been addressed with our ABI rep and our internal IT dept). The day we received an e-mail […]
Question: Maybe I’m showing my age here, but when did customs brokers stop advancing money for shipping charges? When I began my career working for a customs broker, it was customary to pay charges owed to carriers or other forwarders, and advance those on the billing invoice to the client. This included everything from simple […]
Question: I’ve started a new role as a Compliance Analyst within our Transportation team/Trade Compliance groups. One of my areas of focus & responsibility will be creating a Broker Scorecard that we will use to measure against the Customs Brokerage companies that we utilize for our imports. Any suggestions out there of which key metrics/KPI’s […]
