Nuts & Bolts

Are you taking the Customs Broker exam in October?

 

If you are planning to take the customs broker exam in October you should be well into your preparations by now. In a previous post I shared the prep strategies that worked for me. Here is the info again with the key steps highlighted. Best of luck but don’t rely on luck.

According to CBP Customs and Border Protection passing rates for the customs brokers exam average only 3-11% nationwide. The test is given twice per year in April and October. It consists of 80 multiple choice questions and a passing grade is 75%. The exam is open book which makes it seem easy. However, the books consist of  the HTUS Harmonized Tariff of the United States and CFR 19 Code of Federal Regulations, totaling hundreds of pages. The difficulty is in being able to quickly access the right section for each question. It is a four hour exam so three minutes per question is not much time.

I took a prep course but, as good as it was, it would  have been difficult to pass the exam without additional study. I estimate that I spent about 60  hours on weekends leading up to the exam.

I used 6 previous exams and a 3 step process. In step 1 I took each test for accuracy, ignoring the clock. In step 2 I took the tests again in the same order, while timing myself to make sure I could finish within 4 hours. I believe that step 3 was the key to my success. For this phase I circled all the questions I had missed in steps 1 and 2 and created a separate mini exam which I took several times until I answered all the questions correctly.

Regulatory Updates

Export Compliance = Risk Management

While risk management always gets C-level attention, export compliance is often a mid-management or lower level function. Fines and penalties for violations should make export compliance a basic part of risk management.  Best practices, including an Export Management  & Compliance Program,  will reduce exposure to steep fines and penalties. Don’t leave this responsibility to your shipping department!  Here is some information from the BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security) website showing details. For help with export compliance contact mitch@52.91.45.227

Penalties

Violations of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (EAA), 50 U.S.C. app. §§ 2401-2420 (2000), and the Export Administration Regulations, 15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774 (2007) (EAR) may be subject to both criminal and administrative penalties. When the EAA is in effect, criminal penalties can reach 20 years imprisonment and $1 million per violation. Administrative monetary penalties can reach $11,000 per violation, and $120,000 per violation in cases involving items controlled for national security reasons. When the EAA is in lapse, the criminal and administrative penalties are set forth in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

On October 16, 2007, President Bush signed into law the International Emergency Economic Powers (IEEPA) Enhancement Act, Public Law No. 110-96, amending IEEPA section 206. The Act enhances criminal and administrative penalties that can be imposed under IEEPA and also amends IEEPA to clarify that civil penalties may be assessed for certain unlawful acts. Criminal penalties can reach $1,000,000 and 20 years imprisonment per violation and the administrative penalties can reach the greater of $250,000 per violation or twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis of the violation. See Endnote below.

Violators may also be subject to denial of their export privileges. A denial of export privileges prohibits a person from participating in any way in any transaction subject to the EAR. Furthermore, it is unlawful for other businesses and individuals to participate in any way in an export transaction subject to the EAR with a denied person.

 

Nuts & Bolts, Regulatory Updates

Customs value…a quick summary

 

From the archives…

Customs entries on imported merchandise involve calculating duties and taxes based on commodity classification (HTS), country of origin, and transaction value, along with special notes. In  previous posts we have discussed the importance of making sure that correct HTS codes are used. In most cases the commercial invoice or CI value is used for duty calculation. In situations where the transaction is not so clear Customs has established an “appraisement hierarchy” to determine entry value. The details can be found in US Customs and Border Protection regulations 19 CFR part 152.  Here is a summary:

Appraisement Hierarchy

1) Transaction Value- actual invoice value

2) Transaction Value of identical merchandise- same country, same class and kind

3) Transaction Value of similar merchandise- same country, commercially interchangeable

4) Deductive Value – start with US retail selling price and deduct commissions, transportation, insurance, duty/tax, and value of further processing

5) Computed Value- sum of the following. Importer can request computed instead of deductive.

  • Cost of Materials
  • Cost of Labor
  • Cost of Packaging
  • Profit
  • Overhead
  • G&A

6) Value if other values cannot be determined- if the value of imported merchandise cannot be determined it will be appraised on the basis of a value derived from the methods set forth in parts 152.103 thru 152.106.

Transaction Value cannot be used and the hierarchy comes into play when:

  • There is a restriction on sale (except geographic)
  • Merchandise is sold on consignment
  • There is a barter transaction
  • There is “goodwill” value involved
  • Parties are related, unless relationship did not influence price

Unacceptable bases of appraisement:

  • The selling price in the US of merchandise produced in the US
  • A system that provides for the appraisement of imported merchandise at the higher of two alternative values
  • The price of merchandise in the domestic market of the country of exportation
  • A cost of production other than a value determined under 152.06
  • The price of merchandise for export to a country other than the US
  • Minimum values for appraisement
  • Arbitrary or fictitious values

Need regulatory help? Contact mitch@52.91.45.227 .

Nuts & Bolts

Are your shipments being inspected by CBP?

In previous posts we have discussed the World Bank Logistics Performance Index for international trade. The Index also contains a domestic component as detailed below:

Domestic LPI

The Domestic LPI looks in detail at the logistics environments in 160 countries. For this measure, surveyed logistics professionals assess the logistics environments in their own countries. This domestic evaluation contains more detailed information on countries’ logistics environments, core logistics processes and institutions, and performance time and cost. This approach looks at the logistics constraints within countries, not just at the gateways, such as ports or borders. It uses four major determinants of overall logistics performance to measure performance:
• Infrastructure,
• Services,
• Border procedures and time, and
• Supply chain reliability.

Here is some of the data for the US from the 2016 report. The low percentage  of physical inspections stands out.

Shipments meeting quality criteria (%) 96.34%
Number of agencies – exports 3
Number of agencies – imports 2
Number of documents – exports 3
Number of documents – imports 3
Clearance time without physical inspection (days) 1 days
Clearance time with physical inspection (days) 2 days
Physical inspection (%) 4.29%
Multiple inspection (%) 2.58%
Declarations submitted and processed electronically and on-line (%) 100%
Importers use a licensed Customs Broker (%) 100%
Able to choose the location of the final clearance (%) 100%
Goods released pending customs clearance (%) 57.14%
Nuts & Bolts

World Bank Logistics Performance Index

The World Bank has posted their Logistics Performance Index for 2016. The index benchmarks 6 areas of performance and gives nations a score from 1-5 for each area. The benchmarks are 1) Efficiency of customs clearance process, 2) Quality of trade related infrastructure,  3) Ease of arranging competitive pricing for shipments,  4) Competence and quality of logistics services,  5) Ability to track and trace shipments,  and 6) Timeliness of shipments in reaching destination within scheduled time of arrival.

For 2016 the US ranks 10th overall with an average score of 3.99 for the 6 benchmarks.  The highest US score is 4.25 for timeliness, and the lowest is 3.65 for ease of arranging international shipments. This may be due to the wide variety of services available to US traders which can make comparisons more complex.

http://lpi.worldbank.org/international/global

 

 

 

 

 

Nuts & Bolts

Friday News Round Up: Global Shipping and Logistics Headlines

The Trifecta: supply chain, an interactive map and…donuts.  (Its National Donut Day, after all)

http://archive.boston.com/yourtown/specials/starbucks_vs_dunkin_donuts/

 

 

Great, quick Reauthorization summary

http://goglobal.dhl-usa.com/blog/shipping/what-the-customs-reauthorization-bill-means-for-u-s-businesses/

 

Drawback times are a-changin’

http://blog.tradewin.net/holy-cow-the-drawback-program-is-actually-and-finally-changing

 

 

International Logistics Consulting; Licensed Customs Brokers