CBP Notice on Customs Broker "Self-Assessment" Pilot Expected Soon
On April 22, 2009, at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America annual conference, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced that it will soon publish a Federal Register notice seeking participants for the Broker Self-Assessment pilot program (also referred to as the Broker Compliance Management program).
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CBP officials stated that Acting Commissioner Ahern has already signed the notice and it should be published within the next ten days.
(Trade sources have previously noted that the program may be patterned after ISO 90011. This would allow for customs brokerage firms of all sizes and business models to identify their core competencies and processes, and develop written guidelines for their own business that will enhance technical competence, process management, and product quality with the goal of reliable and improved compliance.)
Pilot Expected to Consist of Four C-TPAT Brokers and to Last One Year
According to CBP officials, CBP is initially seeking four Customs brokers for the pilot program - one larger broker (files over 100,000 entries per year), one medium broker (files over 10,000 entries per year), and two small brokers (file under 10,000 entries per year). The officials stated that the Broker Self Assessment pilot program will only be open to Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) members.
The pilot is expected to last for one year, and CBP may be open to adding additional brokers to the pilot program.
1ISO 9001 provides a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system, regardless of what the user organization does, its size, or whether it is in the private or public sector. It is the only standard in the ISO 9000 "family" against which organizations can be certified - although certification is not a compulsory requirement of the standard.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/05/08 news, 08050505, for BP summary announcing that CBP was collaborating with NCBFAA to establish a Broker Compliance Management Program.
See ITT's Online Archives or 10/29/08 news, 08102900, for BP summary of CBP's expansion of the Importer Self-Assessment Program (ISA) to include the Importer Self-Assessment Product Safety Pilot (ISA-PS).)