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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 173 / Friday, September 10, 2021 / Proposed Rules
In addition to the publication of the RFI and RFP in SAM, CBP is proposing to announce the availability of the RFI
and RFP through the publication of notices in the Federal Register by the Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade. This would ensure that the requests reach as wide an audience as possible, including parties that do not traditionally contract with the U.S.
Government. In accordance with the provisions of proposed 111.103c, these Federal Register notices would contain information pertaining to the criteria that the Office of Trade will use to select an accreditor and the period during which CBP will accept applications by potential accreditors.
Following the issuance and publication of the RFP, CBP would review the proposals received and rate them based on the factors provided in the relevant section of the RFP. Based on these ratings, CBP would then select the accreditors approved for that cycle.
Parties not selected for the cycle would have the opportunity to protest CBPs decision in accordance with the procedures set forth in the FAR.
Following the selection of the approved accreditors, the Office of Trade will notify the approved accreditors of their award, and the Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade, will publish a notice in the Federal Register to inform the public and the customs broker community of the parties approved to provide accreditation services. In accordance with the provisions of proposed 111.103c, this Federal Register notice would contain information pertaining to the selected accreditors period of award.
CBP is not proposing to set a target or a limit on the number of accreditors.
Rather, the number will be determined by the strength of the proposals received and CBPs needs at the time of the RFP.
CBP is proposing to introduce a period of award of three years, subject to renewal. This will provide CBP-selected accreditors with sufficient time to establish their accreditation programs and to begin with the accreditation of educational content while not creating a long period of time during which new interested parties would have to wait for the next selection cycle. In accordance with the provisions of the FAR, either party to the contractwhether the accreditor or CBPwould be permitted to terminate the contract with 30-days notice. If an accreditor were to leave the program, the Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade, would publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the departure.
Once awards have been made for the first cycle of accreditors, CBP envisions
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working closely with themas a group and as individual partiesto provide directions and instructions, set expectations, develop due dates and milestones, and create a public outreach campaign to inform the affected customs broker community of the new program and opportunities. Once the program has been fully implemented, the Broker Management Branch within the Office of Trade will meet with the accreditors periodically to identify and exchange best practices, address areas of concern, and develop program metrics that can be shared with COAC and other members of the public as needed.
Following the first 3-year cycle, CBP
will announce the opening of a new application cycle through posts in SAM, and the Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade, will publish a notice in the Federal Register to the same effect.
CBP believes the approach outlined above will meet the following objectives, which CBP believes to be key to the programs success:
1. Multiple approved accreditors, which will allow for competition and keep costs at market level without creating a monopoly;
2. An open and transparent application process; and, 3. An opportunity for small businesses, such as law firms that specialize in customs law, and nonprofit organizations, such as trade associations, to become approved accreditors.
2. Accreditation Process Proposed 111.103d and e pertain to the administration of the accreditation process, including the responsibilities of CBP-selected accreditors. Proposed 111.103d reflects that CBP-selected accreditors will administer the accreditation of training or educational activities offered by an entity other than a U.S.
Government agency, including the special allowance for instructors, discussion leaders, and speakers, by reviewing and approving or denying training or educational activities for continuing education credit. The accreditation process may vary slightly among CBP-selected accreditors e.g., fees, timeframe for the review and issuance of an accreditation decision, address to which paper-based accreditation requests must be submitted, and the documents that must be submitted as part of the accreditation request; however, each accreditor will be required to administer the accreditation process within the bounds of a defined set of parameters. These parameters will be defined as part of the
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RFP. For example, CBP is expecting that, as a result of this process, CBPselected accreditors will be required to:
1 Provide an electronic means for a content provider to submit the details of an activity under consideration; 2 state the average or typical processing time for an accreditation request; and 3
clearly state any charges for the review and approval or denial of an accreditation request.
Although the accreditation process will be defined in more detail as part of the selection process, paragraphs d and e of proposed 111.103 contain two requirements. First, in order to ensure that qualifying continuing broker education programs present educational content that is current and relevant, proposed 111.103d provides that an accreditors approval of a training or educational activity for continuing education credit is only valid for one year, but can be renewed through any CBP-selected accreditor. As CBPs proposal does not require individual brokers to complete a specific number of hours of continuing education on specific subject matter areas, CBP has chosen to propose to limit the validity of accreditations to one year. CBP
believes that this limitation would ensure that content providers regularly update educational content, and, thereby, ensure that qualifying continuing broker education offers educational content that is current and relevant. Second, while a CBP-selected accreditor could approve a training or educational activity offered by one of its officials or members for continuing education credit, proposed 111.103e provides a CBP-selected accreditor may not approve its own trainings or educational activities for continuing education credit. This will require CBPselected accreditors who are also content providers to seek another CBPselected accreditors approval in order for educational content to be eligible for continuing education credit. CBP is proposing this limitation to curb the risk of conflicts of interest and self-dealings.
In order to promote transparency and the accreditors compliance with their contractual obligations, CBP also intends to provide content providers and instructors, discussion leaders, and speakers seeking to claim continuing education credits under the special allowance with an opportunity to submit complaints and comments to the Office of Trade at the Headquarters of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Attn: Broker Management Branch, electronically. CBP intends to publish additional information on how to submit complaints and comments concerning specific CBP-selected
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