CBP Working on Selecting Accreditors for Broker Continuing Education

CBP is in the process of selecting accreditors for its continuing education requirement for customs brokers, said Shari McCann, director of commercial operations for CBP's Office of Trade, during a session at the CBP Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit on March 28.

While CBP's Elena Ryan said she can't get into details about how many or who applied, she said the agency is "very pleased" with the submissions it received and the information the proposals contained, and "we think we are in a very good place." Ryan is a special adviser to the agency on broker continuing education.

The selection process is not "particularly difficult or long," but CBP needs to conduct "legal reviews," Ryan said. "This is the first time we've done this, so we just need to be careful and make sure that all of our legal t's and i's are dotted and crossed -- maybe not in that order," she said. The agency put out its request for proposals in February for accreditors, with a deadline of March 7 (see 2402070070).

Once selected, CBP will then meet with the accreditors "together as a workgroup both virtually and in person," where they will be "hammering out the procedures that we're going to be using, the policies we're going to be following," Ryan said. "We want us to be moving forward as a uniform group where we're all in agreement so that, when you go to an accreditor, you know what to expect in terms of review time," as well as "what you're getting from an accreditor" and the "kinds of customer service you can expect to receive."

"We don't want you to have to go accreditor shopping, looking for someone to help you get your education approved."

For now, it's important for customs brokers to look at their systems and see how they are earning continuing education credits today, McCann said. If the broker is not earning credits, it's worth looking at how to get on a path to earning 36 hours in three years, McCann said.