Mandatory Continuing Education Requirements for Licensed Customs Brokers Begin January 2025

Jan. 1, 2025

Customer Advisory

IT’S FINALLY HERE - CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR LICENSED CUSTOMS BROKERS!

How do we enhance our professional skills? Through continuing education, of course!

Most professionals in dynamic fields often need continuing education courses to stay updated on the latest regulatory and scientific requirements. Jobs that require a license—such as teaching, accounting, law, insurance, real estate, nursing, and medical professions—usually require continuing education as well. Laws keep changing, and technical knowledge of these laws is essential to effectively serve the clients we claim to be knowledgeable about. This has been a long time coming!

Finally, on November 1, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published Federal Register Notice 89 FR 87387, announcing that Customs Brokers can soon begin earning credits under the new Continuing Education (CE) Program. The Continuing Education (CE) requirement is now mandatory for all individually licensed brokers and permit holders, and non-compliance could result in a suspended or revoked license!

Brokers must earn 20 CE credits from qualifying educational activities occurring between January 1, 2025, and the end of the 2027 Triennial Status Reporting period, i.e., January 31, 2027. Educational activities eligible for CE credit will be offered by various sources, including CBP, partner government agencies, and private entities.

CBP’s Continuing Education Team is hosting two CE credit-eligible webinars in late January 2025, which you are invited to attend. Registration links and relevant information will be published on the Customs Broker Continuing Education webpage soon. Please check this webpage regularly for updates.

“Licensed Customs Broker Continuing Education – The Requirement is Here!”
“Licensed Customs Broker Continuing Education – What Do You Need to Do as an Education Provider?”

There will be a variety of CE credit-eligible educational activities offered by CBP, partner government agencies, as well as private and professional entities, including:

Industry or trade-related conferences, seminars, and webinars
Online, self-administered courses (also known as asynchronous trainings)
Company trainings (internally developed or offered by an outside vendor)
Port tours
Trade days sponsored by CBP and local associations

Note that individual brokers who receive their license during the current triennial period will not need to comply with the rule until the start of the next Triennial Status Reporting period.

To be considered for CE credit, private sector activities can be submitted for accreditation to any of CBP’s five selected partner accreditors, listed below:

CBP and Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) will also soon offer activities for CE credits, which include, but are not limited to:

The Trade Summit and Trade Forum
Live and recorded webinars listed on cbp.gov and individual PGA webpages
Field activities such as Trade Days and port tours

For additional resources, you can also monitor the following websites for CE credit availability:

To give individual brokers additional time to prepare for the new continuing education requirement, CBP is reducing the number of required credit hours to 20 for the 2024-2027 triennial period (with certification of completion due by February 1, 2027). This reduced number of credits applies to the 2024-2027 triennial period only. Individual brokers will be required to earn the full 36 credit hours for all triennial periods following the 2024-2027 period.

For complete information on the CE Program, visit the Customs Broker Continuing Education webpage.

For consultation services and assistance in complying with this program, you may also reach out to us at: customs_compliance_group@am.kwe.com

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