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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 173 / Friday, September 10, 2021 / Proposed Rules 5. Economic Impact Four commenters raised concerns about the costs of requiring continuing education and the potential impact of a continuing broker education requirement on small businesses. CBP
appreciates these comments and has developed the proposed framework for continuing broker education with this concern in mind. In addition to lowering the originally proposed number of required hours of continuing education, CBP is also committed to providing free, online content that will satisfy the continuing broker education requirement. CBP already provides at least 36 hours of training or informational webinars on an annual basis, which would allow individual brokers to fully satisfy the continuing broker education requirement through free, CBP-provided content. As described in more detail below, CBP is also proposing that, once accreditation has been obtained for training or educational activities, the vast majority of continuing education currently obtained at a brokers expense for various certificate programs offered by the private sector would qualify for continuing education credit.
6. Effectiveness of Continuing Education Five commenters were opposed to the introduction of a continuing education requirement for customs brokers, arguing that this would not affect compliance and that customs brokers demonstrate their knowledge of customs business on a transactional basis with their clients. A number of the commenters also requested that customs brokers who do not actively file entries should be exempt from the requirement.
CBP disagrees and is proposing that all individual brokers, regardless of filing status, earn continuing education credit, with the exception of those individual brokers who have voluntarily suspended their licenses in accordance with 19 CFR 111.52. Furthermore, CBP
continues to believe that the complex and evolving realm of international trade warrants a continuing education framework for individual brokers.

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IV. Discussion of Proposed Framework for Continuing Education for Licensed Customs Brokers CBP is proposing amendments to 19
CFR part 111 to require continuing education for individual customs broker license holders. CBPs proposal includes the addition of a new subpart F to 19
CFR part 111, consisting of 111.101
through 111.104, which will set forth the continuing broker education requirement and the framework for
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administering this requirement.
Proposed 111.101 sets forth the scope of proposed subpart F, proposed 111.102 sets forth the obligations that individual customs brokers would have in conjunction with the continuing broker education requirement, proposed 111.103 contains the requirements that educational activities would be required to meet in order to satisfy the continuing broker education requirement and sets forth an accreditation process for certain training or educational activities, and proposed 111.104 sets forth the disciplinary proceedings for the failure to comply with the continuing broker education requirement.
CBP is also proposing to amend several existing provisions in 19 CFR
part 111. CBP is proposing to require individual brokers to certify and report their compliance with the continuing broker education requirement as part of the submission of the status report, which is due on a triennial basis hereinafter, referred to as status report or triennial report by amending 111.30d. Additionally, CBP is proposing to amend 111.0, which sets forth the scope of part 111, in order to reflect the addition of proposed subpart F, and amend 111.1, which is a definitional provision, in order to define certain terms as they are used in the context of the continuing broker education requirement. Finally, CBP is proposing to reserve 111.97
through 111.100 for future use. The proposed changes are described in detail below.
A. Modifications to the Scope of 19 CFR
Part 111
Section 111.0 sets forth the scope of the provisions contained in 19 CFR part 111, which currently include the licensing of, and granting of permits to, persons desiring to transact customs business as customs brokers, the duties and responsibilities of customs brokers, and the grounds for disciplining customs brokers. CBP is proposing to revise the second sentence of 111.0 to reflect the proposed addition of regulatory provisions requiring individual brokers to satisfy a continuing education requirement.
B. Definitions for the Proposed Continuing Broker Education Framework Section 111.1 provides definitions for terms as they appear in 19 CFR part 111.
For purposes of the creation of a continuing education requirement for individual brokers, CBP is proposing the addition of definitions of four terms continuing broker education
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requirement, continuing education credit, qualifying continuing broker education, and triennial period.
Although amended 111.1 would continue to list definitions in alphabetical order, this section discusses the proposed definitions in logical order, for explanatory purposes.
The term qualifying continuing broker education defines any training or educational activity that is eligible or, if required, has been approved for continuing education credit, in accordance with proposed 111.103.
This definition indicates that a wide range of training or educational activities will meet an individual brokers obligation to complete continuing education, which must satisfy the requirements set forth in proposed 111.103.
The term continuing education credit defines the unit of measurement used for meeting the continuing broker education requirement. The smallest recognized unit is one continuing education credit, which requires 60
minutes of continuous participation in a qualifying continuing broker education program, as defined in proposed 111.103a. For qualifying continuing broker education lasting more than 60
minutes, one continuing education credit may be claimed for the first 60
minutes of continuous participation, and half of one continuing education credit may be claimed for every full 30
minutes of continuous participation thereafter. For example, for a qualifying continuing broker education program lasting more than 60 minutes but less than 90 minutes, only one continuing education credit may be claimed. In contrast, for a qualifying continuing broker education program lasting 90
minutes, 1.5 continuing education credits may be claimed.
The term continuing broker education requirement defines an individual customs broker license holders obligation to complete a certain number of continuing education credits of qualifying continuing broker education, as set forth in proposed subpart F of part 111, in order to maintain sufficient knowledge of customs and related laws, regulations, and procedures, bookkeeping, accounting, and all other appropriate matters necessary to render valuable service to importers and drawback claimants.
The term triennial period defines a period of three years commencing on February 1, 1985, or on February 1 in
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