Course Library

1 Lessons

$85

Advancing Funds on Behalf of the Importer; Credit Controls

• Explain the financial role of a customs broker in advancing funds for freight, duty, and delivery charges and how delivery terms influence responsibility for these costs.
• Identify risk controls and verification steps a broker should follow before advancing funds on behalf of an importer to reduce financial exposure.
• Analyze operational actions that may unintentionally commit a brokerage firm to payment obligations, including routing and transportation coordination decisions.
• Evaluate when and why brokers apply disbursement service charges and how these fees relate to financial risk management and client service practices.
• Apply best practices for managing client relationships and financial accountability while supporting efficient cargo movement and customs clearance.

1 Lessons

$85

Payment of Duties and Fees

• Explain the customs entry preparation and release process, including broker file initiation, importer authorization, and required documentation.
• Identify importer compliance requirements, including CBP Form 5106 data, customs powers of attorney, importer bonds, MID, and key entry information.
• Describe transportation and manifest data requirements across air, ocean, rail, and truck shipments.
• Analyze land-border processing programs, including PAPS, FAST, NCAP, and ACE e-manifest workflows.
• Differentiate Non-PAPS and special processing scenarios, including in-bond, FTZ, low-value, and personal goods shipments.
• Apply customs bond, authorization, and payment processes, including POA validation, bond types, ABI statement processing, and duty payment methods.
• Recognize import restrictions and Partner Government Agency (PGA) requirements, including regulated commodities and ACE submission processes.
• Apply CBP release requirements, including conditional release and release based on partial information.

4 Lessons

$95

Transportation Information Required for a Customs Release

• Understand the responsibilities of the importing carrier for cargo and the timeframes for conditional customs release. Learn the information needed for CBP to match the manifest to the customs entry and the transportation info required via ABI for customs release.
• Learn additional information requirements for in-bond cargo release, general order warehouse release, and release from a Foreign Trade Zone.
• Understand the function of an importer-customs broker authorization form and the types of air and ocean freight transportation information needed for filing a customs entry.
• Learn the required information for truck shipments at the border and understand how PAPS operates, including the relationship between PAPS, FAST, and NCAP.
• Understand rail transportation information and sources for missing data, including for in-bond rail shipments. Learn how CBP determines customs treatment and handles partial shipment release.

4 Lessons

$95

Types of Customs Entries and the ABI System

• Understand the role of the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) and its integration with the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), along with the benefits it offers to customs brokers and its interfacing with other government agencies.
• Recognize formal vs. informal customs entries, including the types of formal entries, filing methods, and the process for payments of customs duties. Understand when a paper entry is needed despite electronic filing.
• Learn the process for consumption entries and the basics of how customs brokers handle these entries.
• Understand U.S. duty avoidance measures, including customs bonded warehouses, foreign trade zones (FTZ), and how these differ. Learn about in-transit shipments and the requirements for transportation entries.

4 Lessons

$95

Introduction to Customs Brokers and Import Agencies

• Define the meaning of “”admissibility”” in the context of international trade
• Understand the mission(s) of the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• Gain awareness of the various types of imported products which are subject to import regulation, restriction and/or U.S.
  compliance requirements

2 Lessons

$85

The Customs Broker’s Role with Import Transactions and Cargo Movement

• Counts as 1 CBP Continuing Education credit. 
• Explain the range of customs brokerage services and related fee structures, including factors influencing broker charges, customs bonds, and invoicing practices for delivery, transportation, and terminal services.
• Identify key compliance and financial responsibilities of a customs broker, including recordkeeping obligations and circumstances under which a broker may become liable to CBP for duty payment.
• Describe transportation coordination responsibilities required to support timely customs clearance, including arrival notices, cargo availability, and communication with importing carriers.
• Apply operational workflows for initiating and managing customs clearance transactions from shipment notification through post-entry cargo coordination and on-carriage.
• Explain the broker’s role in managing risk and cargo movement, including the purpose of open cargo insurance policies and the steps taken after entry processing to ensure delivery to the importer.

3 Lessons

$85

Customs Broker and Importer Relationships

• Define the type of relationship which CBP regulations specify exists between a customs broker and importer with
  respect to “customs business”
• Explain the basic functions and characteristics of a customs bond
• Identify the circumstances under which a customs broker becomes liable to CBP for payment of customs duty
  on behalf of an importer

3 Lessons

$85

Import/Customs Broker Responsibilities & Transactions

• Counts as 2 CBP Continuing Education hours
• Explain the function and importance of an arrival notice
• Identify the various locations where customs clearance may be accomplished
• Name two things a customs broker does to initiate a customs clearance transaction

2 Lessons

$85

ABI System and Imports Subject to Processsing by U.S. Agencies

• What the ABI does
• The relevance of the Customs Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”) to ABI
• Gain awareness of the various types of imported products that are subject to import regulation, restriction, and/or
  U.S. compliance requirements

2 Lessons

$85

Customs Broker’s Role in Supply Chain and Beyond

• Counts as 1 CBP Continuing Education hour
• Define the meaning of “informed compliance” under the U.S. Customs Modernization Act of 1993
• Explain the benefits a customs broker may achieve by networking with other brokers and forwarders around the world
• Describe the key factors that should encourage customs brokers to develop more consulting business with importers

3 Lessons

$85

Customs Broker’s Relationships

• Define the type of relationship which CBP regulations specify exists between a customs broker and importer with
  respect to “customs business”
• Explain the duty which an agent has to his principle
• Identify items of information a customs broker must ask of the importing carrier or break bulk agent or
  determine from the transport document

3 Lessons

$85

Customs Broker’s Professional Conduct

• Counts as 1 CBP Continuing Education credit. 
• Name the five key client satisfaction do’s and don’ts (doing things R.I.G.H.T.)
• Learn how to convey an impression of professional competence and respect
• Describe practical guidelines for interacting with CBP officers and staff