Customs Committee Agenda for 4/5/07 Meeting - ncbfaa

070222 v.1.0
envisioned that our proposal will rely on self assessment and compliance measurement on an
account basis. We have been tasked to present benefits to CBP in favor of our proposal. The
Customs Committee would like to formalize this effort and achieve an agreement in principle at
this meeting with CBP.
11:30 – CCS & Customs Outreach
In the spring of 2005 NCBFAA inaugurated its Customs Compliance Specialist program.
The stated purpose of this program is to enhance the expertise and professionalism of our trade
sector. At the heart of the program is a requirement for continuing education for annual
recertification. A point system has been devised to objectify the accumulation of educational
experiences throughout the year. In order to provide an enrollment that is nationwide the
greatest opportunity for meaningful educational experiences, NCBFAA will recognize third
party tuition with an appropriate point award. We believe that our CCS participants should be
encouraged to attend CBP outreach opportunities, and deserve to earn continuing education
points for those events. CBP cooperation is necessary to accomplish this. The Customs
Committee hopes to persuade CBP at this meeting of the merits for supporting our CCS program
in this way.
12:00 – Lunch
13:00 – Late Pay Penalty Guidelines
The Customs Committee Chairman filed informal comments with Jeremy Baskin on
November 16, 2005 as follows: “As to the PMS penalty and mitigation guideline, NCBFAA
would like to suggest –
1. A $2,500 cap on the base amount + interest calculated at the official posted rates, and
2. Clear language that an Option 1 penalty might be remitted in full, or substantially mitigated
if it can be shown that the late pay resulted solely due to a customs broker automated
systems “glitch” or similar (snow day type) failure.
Clearly $2,500 is not an insignificant amount for even a large customs broker. It may represent
the fees collected for as many as 100 entries (or more) at the border. When enforced against a
small customs broker, that amount will come right out of the owner’s pocket. I don’t know how
that would feel for the CBP officials establishing this guideline, but it certainly would cause me
very significant distress if it came out of my checking account. The majority of NCBFAA
members are small businesses; $2,500 + interest is very meaningful. If your constituency
disagrees, we would be interested to see some statistics to support the need for a larger penalty.
As I said during our meeting, and as I’ve expressed to the NCBFAA Customs Committee, we
know that the penalty must sting, but we would like to negotiate the lowest reasonable threshold
for this.
If you set the base amount of the penalty too high, you will simply exclude a large number
of mostly small customs brokers from using broker periodic statements. CBP might still reach
its goal for PMS duty collections, but as a byproduct CBP will be introducing an artificial
anticompetitive obstacle into the customs brokerage market. Please believe me that there are
already significant competitive advantages enjoyed by the large firms in this market space. If the
base amount proves to be too low, CBP can always come back with an FRN and adjust the
amount upward, as it has done for bond amounts.”
Page 3 of 17