Supporting Law and Reg

§ 111.30

19 CFR Ch. I (4–1–04 Edition)

(b) Notice to client of method of payment—(1) All brokers must provide
their clients with the following written
notification:
If you are the importer of record, payment
to the broker will not relieve you of liability
for Customs charges (duties, taxes, or other
debts owed Customs) in the event the
charges are not paid by the broker. Therefore, if you pay by check, Customs charges
may be paid with a separate check payable
to the ‘‘U.S. Customs Service’’ which will be
delivered to Customs by the broker.

(2) The written notification set forth
in paragraph (b)(1) of this section must
be provided by brokers as follows:
(i) On, or attached to, any power of
attorney provided by the broker to a
client for execution on or after September 27, 1982; and
(ii) To each active client no later
than February 28, 1983, and at least
once at any time within each 12-month
period after that date. An active client
means a client from whom a broker has
obtained a power of attorney and for
whom the broker has transacted customs business on at least two occasions
within the 12-month period preceding
notification.
§ 111.30 Notification of change of business address, organization, name,
or location of business records; status report; termination of brokerage business.
(a) Change of address. When a broker
changes his business address, he must
immediately give written notice of his
new address to each director of a port
that is affected by the change of address. In addition, if an individual
broker is not actively engaged in
transacting business as a broker and
changes his non-business mailing address, he must give written notice of
the new address in the status report required by paragraph (d) of this section.
(b) Change in an organization. A partnership, association, or corporation
broker must immediately provide written notice of any of the following to
the director of each port through which
it has been granted a permit:
(1) The date on which a licensed
member or officer ceases to be the
qualifying member or officer for purposes of § 111.11(b) or (c)(2), and the
name of the broker who will succeed as
the qualifying member or officer; and

(2) Any change in the Articles of
Agreement, Charter, or Articles of Incorporation relating to the transaction
of customs business, or any other
change in the legal nature of the organization (for example, conversion of a
general partnership to a limited partnership, merger with another organization, divestiture of a part of the organization, or entry into bankruptcy protection).
(c) Change in name. A broker who
changes his name, or who proposes to
operate under a trade or fictitious
name in one or more States within the
district in which he has been granted a
permit and is authorized by State law
to do so, must submit to the Office of
Field Operations, U.S. Customs Service, Washington, DC 20229, evidence of
his authority to use that name. The
name must not be used until the approval of Headquarters has been received. In the case of a trade or fictitious name, the broker must affix his
own name in conjunction with each
signature of the trade or fictitious
name when signing customs documents.
(d) Status report—(1) General. Each
broker must file a written status report with Customs on February 1, 1985,
and on February 1 of each third year
after that date. The report must be accompanied by the fee prescribed in
§ 111.96(d) and must be addressed to the
director of the port through which the
license was delivered to the licensee
(see § 111.15). A report received during
the month of February will be considered filed timely. No form or particular
format is required.
(2) Individual. Each individual broker
must state in the report required under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section whether
he is actively engaged in transacting
business as a broker. If he is so actively engaged, he must also:
(i) State the name under which, and
the address at which, his business is
conducted if he is a sole proprietor;
(ii) State the name and address of his
employer if he is employed by another
broker, unless his employer is a partnership, association or corporation
broker for which he is a qualifying
member or officer for purposes of
§ 111.11(b) or (c)(2); and

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Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, DHS, Treasury
(iii) State whether or not he still
meets the applicable requirements of
§ 111.11 and § 111.19 and has not engaged
in any conduct that could constitute
grounds for suspension or revocation
under § 111.53.
(3) Partnership, association or corporation. Each corporation, partnership or
association broker must state in the
report required under paragraph (d)(1)
of this section the name under which
its business as a broker is being transacted, its business address, the name
and address of each licensed member of
the partnership or licensed officer of
the association or corporation who
qualifies it for a license under
§ 111.11(b) or (c)(2), and whether it is actively engaged in transacting business
as a broker, and the report must be
signed by a licensed member or officer.
(4) Failure to file timely. If a broker
fails to file the report required under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section by
March 1 of the reporting year, the broker’s license is suspended by operation
of law on that date. By March 31 of the
reporting year, the port director will
transmit written notice of the suspension to the broker by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address
reflected in Customs records. If the
broker files the required report and
pays the required fee within 60 calendar days of the date of the notice of
suspension, the license will be reinstated. If the broker does not file the
required report within that 60-day period, the broker’s license is revoked by
operation of law without prejudice to
the filing of an application for a new license. Notice of the revocation will be
published in the Customs Bulletin.
(e) Custody of records. Upon the permanent termination of a brokerage
business, written notification of the
name and address of the party having
legal custody of the brokerage business
records must be provided to the director of each port where the broker was
transacting business within each district for which a permit has been
issued to the broker. That notification
will be the responsibility of:
(1) The individual broker, upon the
permanent termination of his brokerage business;
(2) Each member of a partnership
who holds an individual broker’s li-

§ 111.33

cense, upon the permanent termination
of a partnership brokerage business; or
(3) Each association or corporate officer who holds an individual broker’s license, upon the permanent termination
of an association or corporate brokerage business.
§ 111.31 Conflict of interest.
(a) Former officer or employee of U.S.
Government. A broker who was formerly
an officer or employee in U.S. Government service must not represent a client before the Treasury Department or
any representative of the Treasury Department in any matter to which the
broker gave personal consideration or
gained knowledge of the facts while in
U.S. Government service, except as
provided in 18 U.S.C. 207.
(b) Relations with former officer or employee of U.S. Government. A broker
must not knowingly assist, accept assistance from, or share fees with a person who has been employed by a client
in a matter pending before the Treasury Department or any representative
of the Treasury Department to which
matter that person gave personal consideration or gained personal knowledge of the facts or issues of the matter
while in U.S. Government service.
(c) Importations by broker or employee.
A broker who is an importer himself
must not act as broker for an importer
who imports merchandise of the same
general character as that imported by
the broker unless the client has full
knowledge of the facts. The same restriction will apply if a broker’s employee is an importer.
§ 111.32 False information.
A broker must not file or procure or
assist in the filing of any claim, or of
any document, affidavit, or other papers, known by such broker to be false.
In addition, a broker must not knowingly give, or solicit or procure the giving of, any false or misleading information or testimony in any matter pending before the Treasury Department or
any representative of the Treasury Department.
§ 111.33 Government records.
A broker must not procure or attempt to procure, directly or indirectly, information from Government

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