19 CFR Part 111: What Customs Broker Regulations Mean for Importers

Key Points

• Every broker conducting "customs business" on your behalf must hold a valid individual or corporate license and a district permit under 19 CFR part 111, backed by the licensing statute at 19 U.S.C. 1641.
• Your broker is legally required to exercise "responsible supervision and control" over every employee handling your shipments, meaning one licensed broker cannot rubber-stamp work done carelessly by unlicensed staff.
• The broker must advise you when it learns your import practices are not in compliance with customs law, but that duty does not shift your own obligation of "reasonable care" as importer of record under 19 U.S.C. 1484.
• Brokers must keep your transaction records for five years from the date of entry, and must file a triennial status report with CBP every three years to keep the license active.
• The power of attorney you sign is the legal instrument that authorizes the broker to act for you; reading it carefully before signing is one of the highest-value steps an importer can take.

On this page

1. What 19 CFR part 111 actually covers
2. Broker licensing and permits: what to verify
3. What the broker must do for you
4. What stays your responsibility as importer of record
5. The power of attorney: what you are authorizing
6. Questions to ask a broker before signing
7. What importers should do
8. Key references

19 CFR part 111 is the federal regulation that governs how customs brokers are licensed, how they must supervise their operations, and what duties they owe to the importers who hire them. Understanding it helps you evaluate any broker before signing a power of attorney, spot gaps in how your account is being managed, and know exactly where the broker's responsibility ends and yours begins.

The links throughout this article go directly to the primary documents: the regulation itself, the licensing statute, and CBP's official guidance pages. Read the source.

What 19 CFR Part 111 Actually Covers

19 CFR part 111 is the regulatory home for the entire customs broker framework. Its subject matter includes:

• Licensing of individual brokers and corporate brokerage entities
• District permits that authorize a licensed broker to conduct customs business in a specific CBP port area
• Responsible supervision and control standards that tell licensed brokers how to oversee their employees
• Powers of attorney that clients must execute before a broker can act on their behalf
• Broker duties to clients, including the duty to exercise due diligence and the duty to advise clients of known noncompliance
• Recordkeeping obligations, including the retention period for transaction records
• The triennial status report that keeps licenses active
• The definition of "customs business", which draws the line between what requires a license and what does not

What counts as "customs business"

The regulation defines customs business as activities involving transactions with CBP concerning the entry and admissibility of merchandise, the classification and valuation of merchandise, the payment of duties and taxes, and the refund or drawback of duties. Freight forwarding, cargo movement, and logistics coordination that do not involve these transactions are generally not "customs business." This matters because only customs business triggers the licensing requirement under 19 U.S.C. 1641.

Broker Licensing and Permits: What to Verify

Before a broker can legally transact customs business on your behalf, two credentials must be in place under 19 CFR part 111.

The individual or corporate license

A license is issued by CBP to an individual who has passed the broker examination and met character and experience requirements, or to a corporation, partnership, or association that employs at least one licensed qualifying individual. The license is a national credential but does not, by itself, authorize the broker to operate in every port.

The district permit

To conduct customs business in a specific CBP district, the broker must also hold a permit for that district. A broker operating without the required permit is in violation of 19 CFR part 111, and any penalties or errors arising from that work are not simply the broker's problem, they can create entry issues that become your problem as importer of record.

The triennial status report

Every licensed broker must file a status report with CBP during the first calendar quarter of every third year after the license was granted. Failure to file results in suspension or revocation of the license. Ask your broker when its next triennial report is due and whether it is current.

You can verify a broker's license status through CBP's customs broker information page.

What the Broker Must Do for You

19 CFR part 111 imposes several specific duties on brokers in their relationship with clients.

Due diligence

The regulation requires a broker to exercise due diligence in preparing or reviewing documents submitted to CBP on your behalf. This is not a mere best-efforts standard. It means the broker must take reasonable steps to verify that the information it transmits, including HTS classifications, declared values, and country of origin, is accurate.

Responsible supervision and control

A licensed broker who supervises unlicensed employees handling your account must exercise responsible supervision and control over those employees. In practice, this means a qualified licensed individual must meaningfully oversee the customs work, not merely hold a license while untrained staff process your entries without review. When you discover that your account is handled day-to-day by an unlicensed employee with minimal licensed oversight, that is a compliance risk worth raising directly.

Duty to advise of noncompliance

If a broker learns that its client is not in compliance with customs law, the broker must promptly advise the client of that noncompliance. This duty is written into 19 CFR part 111. It means a broker who discovers a pattern of misclassification, valuation errors, or other violations cannot simply continue filing entries without flagging the issue to you.

Recordkeeping

Brokers must retain records related to customs business for five years from the date of entry. This includes the documents you provide to the broker, correspondence, and the entry records themselves. When you change brokers, you have the right to your own records, and the outgoing broker is required to provide them.

What Stays Your Responsibility as Importer of Record

Hiring a licensed broker does not transfer your legal obligations to that broker. As importer of record, you remain independently responsible for exercising "reasonable care" under 19 U.S.C. 1484. That statute requires you to use reasonable care to enter, classify, and value merchandise, and to provide any other information necessary for CBP to assess duties and determine admissibility.

What this means in practice:

• You cannot rely entirely on a broker's classification if you have information that suggests the classification is wrong.
• A broker's error does not automatically shield you from penalties for a false or negligent entry. CBP can pursue both the broker and the importer.
• You are responsible for providing the broker with accurate and complete information about the goods: the actual transaction value, any assists, the correct country of origin, and applicable trade-agreement qualifications.

The practical takeaway: your broker is a professional agent, not a legal firewall. The more you understand about your own supply chain, the better you can evaluate whether the entries your broker files reflect reality.

For more on how importers and brokers divide compliance responsibilities in practice, see What Do Importers and Brokers Use an AI Trade Compliance Platform For First?

The Power of Attorney: What You Are Authorizing

19 CFR part 111 requires that a broker obtain a valid power of attorney (POA) from a client before transacting customs business on that client's behalf. The POA is not a formality. It is the legal instrument that authorizes the broker to make binding representations to CBP in your name.

What the POA typically covers

• Authority to prepare and file entries, protests, and other documents with CBP
• Authority to receive refunds and drawback payments on your behalf
• In some forms, authority to endorse checks issued to you by CBP
• The scope of goods or ports to which the POA applies

POA duration and revocation

A POA may be granted for a limited term or indefinitely. You can revoke it at any time by giving written notice. When you terminate a broker relationship, revoking the POA in writing, not just verbally, is an essential step. Without revocation, the broker may technically retain authority to file on your behalf.

Questions to Ask a Broker Before Signing

These questions are grounded directly in 19 CFR part 111 requirements. Ask them before executing any power of attorney.

1. Can you provide your CBP license number and the district permits covering my ports of entry? A legitimate broker will produce these immediately. Verify them on CBP's website.
2. Who will be the licensed broker exercising responsible supervision and control over my account? Ask for that individual's name and license number, not just the company name.
3. How do you handle it when you discover a classification or valuation error on a prior entry? The answer should reference your duty to be advised and a defined process for prior disclosure or correction.
4. What is your recordkeeping policy, and how will I obtain my records if I change brokers? Confirm the five-year retention period and the process for record transfer.
5. When is your next triennial status report due, and is your license currently in good standing? A broker that cannot answer this clearly is a flag.
6. What information will you need from me to file accurate entries, and what happens if I provide incomplete data? The answer reveals whether the broker understands that the importer's reasonable care obligation and the broker's due diligence obligation run in parallel.

If you are evaluating broker technology practices as part of your due diligence, see What Should a Customs Broker Ask Before Adding AI Tools?

For context on customs bond requirements that accompany most broker-filed entries, see Customs Bond Types: Continuous, Single Transaction, and ISF Bonds.

What Importers Should Do

• Verify credentials before signing anything. Look up the broker's license and district permits on CBP's broker database. Confirm the triennial report is current.
• Read the power of attorney in full. Know exactly what authority you are granting, whether it is time-limited, and how to revoke it in writing.
• Document your own role in reasonable care. Keep records of the product information you provide to your broker, including classification guidance, transaction values, and origin documentation. If an entry is ever questioned, these records demonstrate you met your obligation under 19 U.S.C. 1484.
• Establish a standing expectation of noncompliance alerts. Tell your broker in writing that you expect to be notified promptly any time it identifies a compliance issue on your account, consistent with its obligation under 19 CFR part 111.

Key References

• 19 CFR Part 111: The full customs broker regulation, covering licensing, permits, responsible supervision and control, powers of attorney, broker duties, recordkeeping, and the triennial status report.
• 19 U.S.C. 1641: The licensing statute authorizing CBP to issue broker licenses and imposing penalties for conducting customs business without a license.
• 19 U.S.C. 1484: The importer of record statute establishing the reasonable care standard for entry, classification, and valuation.
• CBP Customs Brokers page: License verification, broker examination information, and regulatory guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.