NCBFAA 'Broker Known Importer' Program Seeks to Leverage Broker-Client Relationship
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- A new National Customs Broker and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) program would make use of the knowledge and relationship brokers' have with their clients by creating a list of importers that brokers have gathered some baseline information on. The program, known as the "Broker Known Importer Program," was described at the NCBFAA conference April 10. The concept is part of CBP's "Role of the Broker" initiative and isn't expected to require major regulatory changes.
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Brokers know who they do business with and it's good for CBP to know that brokers know the clients, said Alan Klestadt, a lawyer with Grunfeld Desiderio who is customs counsel for the association. The program would allow brokers to "flag" the entries for clients that have gone over a questionnaire providing to the broker various information on their importing practices, said Klestadt. The flag would then be a considered a positive within CBP's targeting algorithm. It wouldn't guarantee compliance, but would say to CBP that the broker and client have gone over that information, he said. The absence of a flag wouldn't be considered a negative on an entry, but would say "it's not somebody that [the broker has] spent time with yet," he said.
NCBFAA has already discussed the idea with CBP officials, who reacted positively, and has sent a letter to CBP outlining the program. Klestadt declined to provide copy of the letter and full proposal because the concept hasn't presented to the full membership yet.
The flag would be unique to the each broker-importer relationship, he said. That "flagged" status isn't something an importer could move between different brokers and if an importer uses multiple brokers, it would be up to the importer to decide if it wants to invest that time with each broker, he said. It's an additional service opportunity and will be valuable to the customer, said Klestadt. The program would also be able to launch under administrative directive, avoiding the lengthy process of regulatory revisions, he said. The agency could release a notice creating a pilot and then go from there, said Klestadt.
The NCBFAA would create the basic questionnaire, which will not be "terribly deep," said Klestadt. Some likely subjects the questionnaire would go over include:
- whether companies are related
- if they provide assists, the basis of appraisement
- who determines the classification
- whether the goods have country-of-origin markings
- if the importer uses free trade agreements
- if the importer pays antidumping duties.
Much of that information is already being gathered by brokers and this will allow CBP to better understand the small- and medium-sized businesses that generally don't take advantage of CBP's trusted trader programs. The program could be a complement to C-TPAT and Importer Security Assessment programs or could be its own program, said Mary Jo Muoio, senior vice president of Trade Services at OHL Global Freight Management and Logistics. The program isn't expected to add liability to brokers and will be a fulfillment of the existing requirement for responsible supervision and control, Klestadt said.