U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that they are implementing a “Broker-Known Importer Program” (BKIP), allowing licensed customs brokers such as Livingston to transmit a BKIP indicator in their cargo release for “broker known” importers.
The indicator will factor in to CBP’s risk-based pre-screening intelligence used when examining cargo, which may result in improved cargo examinations (as do other CBP programs such as Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Importer Self-Assessment (ISA).
Importers become “known” to their customs broker after discussions reviewing their Customs compliance responsibilities. This detailed communication is hoped to increase an importer’s understanding of trade laws and the shared responsibility of informed compliance under the Customs Modernization Act (Mod Act).
The BKIP program resulted from a National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) initiative, and is another step in enhancing CBP’s collaboration in sharing trade intelligence between CBP, the broker, and the importer.
Questions about this regulatory update may be directed to Livingston’s U.S. Regulatory Affairs group.