Best of luck to anyone taking the Customs Broker exam on October 8th. No doubt it will be challenging. Most exams include one or two obscure questions. Here is one from a previous post. Answer below.

Importations of switchblade knives is permissible by 15 U.S.C 1244 if:

A. The importation is pursuant to a contract with a branch of the State Militia.
B. The importation is destined for a specific member or employee in a branch of the Armed Forces of the United States specifically for personal pleasure off-duty use.
C. The importation of the switchblade knives have a blade not exceeding 6 inches in length.
D. The entry will contain, among other documents, a declaration in duplicate stating that the switchblade knife has a blade not exceeding 3 inches in length and is possessed by and is being transported on the person of an individual who has only one arm.
E. The entry will contain, among other documents, a declaration in duplicate stating that the switchblade knife has a blade not exceeding 6 inches in length.

Answer – D

The Bureau of the Census (USBC) Proposed Rule: Foreign Trade Regulations: Overall Impact of the Removal of Electronic Export Information Filing Requirements for Shipments Between the United States and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Your comment:

Comment:I support removal of EEI filing requirements for shipments between the US and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. US territories should not be treated as separate countries.

I recently participated in another KPMG TradeWatch webinar on export compliance smart practices for audits and corrective actions. The presenters packed a lot of useful information into 60 minutes. Here are some highlights.

Employ transactional testing to determine areas of greatest risk including: licensed shipments, end destinations, end users, freight forwarders, jurisdiction and classification determinations, denied party screening.

Periodic Self Testing using:

Internal Controls- Do they provide visibility?

Internal Processes- Are they appropriate for the level of business?

Systems- How are compliance updates handled?

Personnel- Is staff trained in export compliance responsibilites? What is escalation protocol?

External Factors- What procedures and communication is in place for third parties and supply chain partners?

 

Consider voluntary self disclosures as part of corrective actions. VSDs can help mitigate fines and penalties.

I recently reviewed two research papers for the Transportation Research Board in my role as a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade and Transportation.

While I recommended acceptance of both of these papers, they have not yet been published, so I may name them in a future post. These studies are academic in nature, highly technical, and contain plenty of statistics. They obviously won’t be of interest to everyone but they do make contributions to the literature in their fields. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to review these papers and am very impressed by the amount of work done by the authors.