Customs brokers, freight forwarders, NVOCCs, and other third party logistics providers are vital participants in and enablers of transnational trade.   They assist both importers and exporters with supply chain logistics.   

Importers often find themselves in trouble with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) because of what the importers perceive to be errors committed by their customs brokers.  These errors can include missed deadlines, misclassified or mislabeled items, unpaid or underpaid duties or fees, and records and forms that were not filed or kept.

Importers and exporters are required under law to use reasonable care in supervising customs brokers and freight forwarders they use.  Mistakes and violations are imputed to exporters and importers who hire customs brokers and freight forwarders.  When a mistake or violations occurs, the relationship between the parties typically quickly sours, with one party pointing a finger at the other party.

Importers would be wise to avoid these problems by building customs broker controls into the company’s import policies and procedures, such as controlling in and monitoring the number of customs brokers retained, making sure that powers of attorney and engagement contracts fit the importer’s, not the customs brokers, needs (avoiding the pro forma one that the customs broker industry relies on and revoking superfluous powers of attorney), creating standard operating procedures (desktop procedures) that customs brokers must follow daily, and periodically auditing customs brokers for compliance with your company’s expectations.  Our law firm has extensive experience in all these areas.  

Our customs broker exam review course is the best one on the market.  With a 94% pass rate, a guarantee, targeted homework, instructors who are both lawyers and customs brokers, and boot camps across the country, it provides the study tools and techniques for both the experienced students and those people that are entirely new to international trade and customs brokerage.  

CBP licenses US customs brokers who must remain in good standing (and not have their licenses revoked) by meeting stringent legal requirements, including 19 USC 1641 and 19 USC 111.  Our law firm trains customs brokers how best to do this and represents customs brokers who get into trouble with CBP.   We also train and represent freight forwarders get into trouble for violating the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) or other export controls.  

Whether you are an importer, customs broker, or any party throughout the supply chain, our law firm can represent your interests fully and zealously whether the party on the other side is a private entity or the government.