Welcome Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of Northern California

Contact UsCustoms Support Contact AFC International with questions about importing goods into the U.S. Our professional customs brokers are on hand with the most up-to-date information to make your importing process fast and easy. Customs and border protection agents also called “CBP officers,” protect 328 ports of entry throughout the United States, including air, land, and sea, and are responsible for agriculture protection, border and security, counterterrorism, customs, immigration, and trade.
The term “customs business” means those activities involving transactions with U.S. Customs and Border Protection concerning the entry and admissibility of merchandise, its classification and valuation, the payment of duties, taxes, or other charges assessed or collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon merchandise by reason of its importation, or the refund, rebate, or drawback thereof. It also includes the preparation of documents or forms in any format and the electronic transmission of documents, invoices, bills, or parts thereof, intended to be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in furtherance of such activities, whether or not signed or filed by the preparer, or activities relating to such preparation, but does not include the mere electronic transmission of data received for transmission to Customs. TQL Global, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Total Quality Logistics, LLC , and is an FMC-licensed ocean freight forwarder and NVOCC, a U.S.
There is also a time savings to CBP due to the removal of the district permit waiver application reviews. Brokers, potential brokers applying to take the broker exam, and CBP also experience time savings resulting from use of the eCBP portal. As shown in Table 21, total undiscounted savings over the period of analysis are $1,277,116. CBP received two comments disputing this estimation in response to the NPRM, both noting that it may take substantially longer to acquire a power of attorney under the rule, though neither commenter provided an estimated time burden.
Failure to file timely.If a broker fails to file the report required under paragraph of this section by March 1 of the reporting year, the broker’s license is suspended by operation of law on that date. By March 31 of the reporting year, CBP will transmit written notice of the suspension to the broker by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address reflected in CBP records. If the broker files the required report and pays the required fee within 60 calendar days of the date of the notice of suspension, the license will be reinstated.
The new portal was then deployed for the following filing period of the triennial report beginning in December of 2020 and will be used for the next filing in December 2023 into early 2024. The portal was also deployed to accept license exam application fees in August of 2019. As a part of regular announcements, CBP announced the new payment system through CSMS messages, a message on CBP’s website, tweets, and in webinars for the broker community. Finally, CBP added the automatic suspension and revocation processing of licenses for unsubmitted triennial status reports as a portal functionality in February 2021, though a CBP employee still reviews all license records with unsubmitted reports prior to suspension or revocation. Any brokers who apply for more than one permit will experience a time savings as a result of this rule because they will only need to apply for a single permit. According to CBP’s Broker Management Branch, currently, brokers spend approximately three hours to collect and submit the appropriate documentation to CBP.
Customs brokers analyze the commercial documents for regulatory requirements, prior to electronic submissions. Having to classify the product correctly to determine the amount of accessed duties and taxes, and facilitate communication between the importer or exporter and governmental authorities. If the customs broker waives the hearing, or the broker or his designated representative fails to appear at the appointed time and place, the hearing officer shall make findings and recommendations based on the record submitted by the parties. At the hearing, the customs broker may be represented by counsel, and all proceedings, including the proof of the charges and the response thereto shall be presented with testimony taken under oath and the right of cross-examination accorded to both parties. A transcript of the hearing shall be made and a copy will be provided to U.S.
However, this estimation is an average across all clients and over time. While it may initially take slightly longer to secure a power of attorney directly from certain clients, for others it will be faster than dealing with the freight forwarder. Additionally, as brokers regularly work directly with importers of record and drawback claimants, the process will likely move faster.
Get individualized support and personal guidance from people you can rely on. Prevent unnecessary import expenses—our experts will assess your import compliance program to uncover potential penalties, help mitigate duty exposure, and determine if duty drawbacks can lead to duty recovery. Rely on IMPORTAR CONTENEDOR to be your liaison with relevant agencies for smooth and efficient customs clearances. Mitigate customs compliance risks and stay up to date with the latest Trade & Tariff Insights from our trade experts. At CEVA we have organized our business to meet the specific challenges of different industry sectors. Our specialist teams apply their genuine expertise in your market to provide the most appropriate solutions for your business.