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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 173 / Friday, September 10, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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2030. As another example, if the individual brokers license were to be reinstated on February 1, 2027, the individual broker would be required to complete all 36 continuing education credits during the triennial period.
When, following a period of voluntary suspension, the individual broker contacts CBP to request the reinstatement of the license, CBP will assist the broker in determining the prorated number of continuing education credits that he or she will be required to complete during the current triennial period.
3. Reporting of Compliance With the Continuing Broker Education Requirement Proposed 111.102c provides that individual brokers, who are required to comply with the continuing broker education requirement, will be subject to an additional reporting obligation.
Specifically, CBP is proposing to require individual brokers to report and certify their compliance with the continuing broker education requirement upon the submission of the status report required under existing 111.30d.
Current 111.30d1 requires both individual and corporate brokers to file a status report with CBP. The status report is due on February 1 of each third year after 1985, and will be considered timely filed as long as the report is received during the month of February.
As part of the submission of the triennial report, customs brokers are required to pay a fee, which is prescribed in paragraph d of 111.96.
Status reports must be addressed to the director of the port through which the license was delivered to the licensee see 111.15, or, since the February 2021 triennial period, can be filed in the eCBP portal available at https e.cbp.
dhs.gov/ecbp//main. The information that must be included in a status report submitted by an individual broker is set forth in current 111.30d2.
As proposed 111.102c would impose upon individual brokers the obligation to report and certify their compliance with the continuing broker education requirement upon the submission of the status report, CBP is also proposing to amend current 111.30d2 to reflect this obligation by adding a new paragraph d2iv to reflect that individual customs brokers must report and certify their compliance with the continuing broker education requirement. CBP is also proposing minor grammatical changes to existing paragraphs d2ii and iii of 111.30
in order to allow for the addition of proposed paragraph d2iv; however, these changes are not substantive.

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Individual brokers who file paper-based triennial reports with CBP would report and certify compliance by including a written statement in the triennial report that reports and certifies their compliance with the continuing broker education requirement.
CBP is proposing to require individual brokers to report and certify compliance on the triennial report for two reasons. First, as the status report has been an integral part of maintaining a customs broker license since 1985, this mechanism is familiar to customs brokers and will minimize any additional burden that the new reporting obligation would place upon individual brokers. As individual brokers are already accustomed to the submission of status reports, individual brokers would not need to familiarize themselves with a new type of information collection. Second, aligning the timeframe for continuing education with the three-year filing timeframe for the status report will give individual brokers a number of years to earn the required number of continuing education credits. This will provide them with flexibility and the opportunity to select qualifying continuing broker education programs that best meet their individual educational needs.
4. Recordkeeping Requirements for Individual Customs Brokers In conjunction with the continuing education requirement, CBP is proposing to require individual brokers to maintain records documenting their completion of the required number of continuing education credits. This requirement is set forth in proposed 111.102d, and is intended to enable CBP to verify an individual brokers compliance with the requirements set forth in paragraphs a and b of proposed 111.102.
Proposed 111.102d1 provides that, for a period of three years following the submission of the status report required under 111.30d, an individual broker must retain certain information and documentation pertaining to the qualifying continuing broker education completed during the triennial period. Proposed 111.102d1 contains a list of the type of information and documentation that must be retained, consisting of: 1 The title of the qualifying continuing broker education attended; 2 the name of the provider or host of the qualifying continuing broker education; 3 the dates attended; 4 the number of continuing education credits accrued;
5 the location of the training or educational activity, if the training or
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educational activity is offered in person;
and 6 any documentation received from the provider or host of the qualifying continuing broker education that evidences the individual brokers registration for, attendance at, completion of, or other activity bearing upon the individual brokers participation in and completion of the qualifying continuing broker education.
The last item would include receipts or confirmations documenting the individual brokers intention to attend the qualifying continuing broker education program, written or electronic materials provided as part of the attendance of the training or educational activity, or certificates of completion or attendance. An individual broker would only be required to retain such documentation, if such documentation is made available by the provider or host of the qualifying continuing broker education to attendees of the training or educational activity. Unlike the general broker record retention requirement in current 19 CFR 111.23b, the recordkeeping requirement in proposed 111.102d1 only requires the records to be retained for a period of three years following the submission of the triennial report rather than for a fiveyear period.
Upon consideration of the comments received in response to the ANPRM, CBP is not proposing to require individual brokers to maintain the records in a specific format i.e., electronically or in paper. For example, if the individual broker received paper documents in the mail or in person from an education provider, the individual broker could retain the information in that form, or could scan and retain it in electronic form. Based on several public comments to the ANPRM, CBP will explore building a tool in ACE that would serve as a place to record and track continuing education credits, but this would not be a substitute for document retention by the individual broker. Individual brokers would not be required to access or use this tool;
rather, it would provide a means to record continuing education credits earned over time if convenient for the individual broker.
Proposed 111.102d2 provides CBP with authority to request the information and documentation for a period of three years following the submission of the status report required under 111.30d2. CBP can request the information and documentation be made available for in-person inspection, or be delivered to CBP by either hardcopy or electronic means, or any combination thereof. Proposed 111.102d is intended to enable CBP

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