ICYMI: CBP announces new broker continuing education accreditors, COAC approves 45 recommendations during public meeting

WASHINGTON — The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) held its quarterly public meeting June 26, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the selection of the five entities who will help CBP develop and implement accreditation standards for the agency’s new Customs Broker Continuing Education (CE) program.  

The five selected accreditors are: 

“We will work closely with the accreditors to fully develop the program – including standardizing processes, writing policy, and preparing their websites to go live,” said Pete Flores, CBP Acting Deputy Commissioner, during his opening remarks. “The rollout will be published in a Federal Register Notice that will include the number of credit hours that individually licensed brokers will need to obtain by the end of the 2024 to 2027 triennial reporting cycle.” 

Additionally, the COAC unanimously passed 45 recommendations to CBP regarding customer experience improvements, broker modernization, de minimis compliance, export modernization, and protecting intellectual property rights. 

David Corn, COAC Trade Chair, shared 26 recommendations in response to a new initiative called CBP Experience, or “CBPX,” which enables the agency to partner with service teams across the agency to address the needs of its stakeholders. This effort rallies service teams across the agency to conduct usability testing, identify pain points, and improve user experiences. Flores underscored the importance of CBPX and highlighted areas where it is already reducing the workload for the agency and industry. 

“I want to note that CBP has already reduced burden hours by more than 3 million in FY24, and I’m confident we’ll continue improving,” he said. 

Two of the 45 recommendations were introduced by the De Minimis Working Group. Flores added that CBP intends to continue expanding enforcement in the small package environment, which has placed a strain on CBP resources. 

“The volume of de minimis shipments entering the United States increased to more than 1 billion in FY23, an increase of more than 660 percent since FY15. That was 2.8 million packages per day. Currently, we are seeing approximately 4 million de minimis shipments per day,” he said. “To meet these challenges, we are investing in technology – from Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to updated non-intrusive inspection technologies. We are also expanding the use of automated cargo messaging tools to inform brokers of vague and insufficient merchandise descriptions filed with CBP. To date, more than 150,000 messages have been sent to 53 brokers.” 

By tightening the guardrails around the Entry Type 86 Test, a pilot that allows de minimis-qualifying entries to be filed through the Automated Broker Interface, CBP aims to ensure responsible brokers can participate and ultimately reduce compliance risk. So far, multiple customs brokers have been suspended and 48 penalties have been issued to importers, totaling over $200,000 in fines this fiscal year.   

Flores concluded his remarks by recognizing the second anniversary of CBP’s implementation and enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which took place June 21 in an effort to ensure business supply chains remain free of forced labor practices. 

“Thus far – through May 1st of this year – we have stopped 8,465 shipments valued at $3.32 billion for UFLPA enforcement action reviews. Of these, 3,375 shipments (40 percent) –valued at over $683 million – were denied entry into the United States,” Flores said.” 

The purpose of the COAC, made up of appointed members from the international trade community, is to advise the Secretaries of the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security on commercial operations of CBP and related Treasury and DHS functions. For more information on the approved recommendations and the next COAC public meeting, which will take place Sept. 18 in Washington, D.C., visit the COAC webpage on the CBP website. Unless otherwise noted, members of the public can participate in these quarterly meetings virtually or in person. 

For updates on CBP’s Office of Trade and Office of Trade Relations, follow on Twitter @CBPTradeGov and @CBP.