Free CBLE Exam Flashcards

Transacting "customs business" on behalf of another person requires the license in 19 CFR 111.2(a)(1). An importer or exporter acting solely on its own account is exempt, and so is a broker's employee acting only for the employer under a power of attorney or a filed authorization statement (19 CFR 111.2(a)(2)).

To take the exam you must be 18 or older on exam day, a U.S. citizen, and not a U.S. Government officer or employee (19 CFR 111.13(b)). The license itself requires you to have reached age 21 before you submit the application (19 CFR 111.11(a)(2)).

The individual license application must be submitted within the 3-year period after you took and passed the exam (19 CFR 111.11(a)(4) and 111.12(a)). Let that window close and you have to sit the exam again.

Examination fee $390; individual license application $300; partnership, association, or corporation license application $500; national permit application $100; triennial status report $100. The FBI fingerprint processing fee is billed separately at the current rate.

It is filed on February 1 of each third year after 1985 with the $100 fee, and a report received during February is still timely (19 CFR 111.30(d)(1)). Missing March 1 suspends the license by operation of law; failing to file and pay within 60 days of CBP's notice revokes it (19 CFR 111.30(d)(4)).

At least 36 continuing education credits of qualifying education each triennial period, certified when the triennial status report is filed (19 CFR 111.102(b)-(c)). Half of one credit, earned by 30 minutes of continuous participation, is the smallest recognized unit (19 CFR 111.1).

Records other than powers of attorney are retained at least 5 years after the date of entry (19 CFR 111.23(b)). A power of attorney is kept until revoked, and the revoked POA and revocation letter are kept 5 years after revocation or 5 years after the client stops being an active client, whichever is later.

Going 120 continuous days without at least one licensed partner or officer revokes both the organization's license and its national permit. Going 180 continuous days without an employed national permit qualifier revokes the permit alone (19 CFR 111.45(a)).

Against a broker, up to $30,000 in the aggregate, and only where no suspension or revocation proceeding has been started for the same reasons. Against a person who is not a broker, up to $10,000 for each transaction or violation under 19 CFR 111.4, capped at $30,000 in the aggregate.

It is the degree of supervision needed to ensure customs business is transacted properly, including ensuring an employee delivers substantially the same quality of service the broker itself must provide (19 CFR 111.1). Section 111.28 lists the factors CBP weighs, such as employee training, transaction reject rates, and the frequency of audits by a licensed broker.

The terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes. The table of contents, alphabetical index, and the titles of sections, chapters, and subchapters exist only for ease of reference and carry no legal weight; you move to GRI 2 through 6 only if the headings and notes do not otherwise require.

A reference to an article in a heading also covers that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that as entered it already has the essential character of the complete article. The same reference covers the complete or finished article entered unassembled or disassembled.

GRI 3(a): the heading providing the most specific description is preferred over a more general one. But when each competing heading covers only part of the materials in a mixed or composite good, or only part of a retail set, those headings count as equally specific and GRI 3(a) cannot resolve it.

Under GRI 3(b), for mixtures, composite goods made of different materials or components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale that GRI 3(a) could not resolve. They are classified as if they consisted only of the material or component giving them their essential character, so far as that criterion can be applied.

GRI 3(c): when neither 3(a) nor 3(b) settles the classification, the goods go into the heading that occurs last in numerical order among those equally meriting consideration.

GRI 6. It applies GRIs 1 through 5 to subheadings, using the terms of the subheadings and any related subheading notes, with the section and chapter notes also applying. Its key limitation is that only subheadings at the same level may be compared.

Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(a): a use provision other than actual use is controlled by the principal use in the United States of the class or kind of goods, at or immediately before importation. Rule 1(b): an actual-use provision is met only if the use is intended at importation, the goods are so used, and proof is furnished within 3 years after entry.

The first 2 digits are the chapter and the first 4 the heading; the first 6 form the internationally harmonized subheading. Headings and subheadings are the legally binding levels under GRI 1 and GRI 6. Digits 7-8 create the U.S. rate line, and digits 9-10 are the statistical suffix that completes the reporting number required by the General Statistical Notes.

CBP Form 3461 or its electronic equivalent (Form 7533 may be used for merchandise from a contiguous country), evidence of the right to make entry, a commercial invoice or acceptable substitute, packing lists where appropriate, and evidence that the required bond is on file (19 CFR 142.3(a)).

Normally the moment CBP authorizes release of the merchandise. It can instead be the time the documentation is filed, if the importer requests that and the goods have already arrived within the port limits, or the time of arrival if the documentation was submitted before arrival and the importer requested it (19 CFR 141.68(a)).

Within 10 working days after the time of entry, with estimated duties attached, unless the importer elects or CBP requires filing at the time of entry (19 CFR 142.12(b)). Late filing can draw a liquidated damages claim under the basic importation and entry bond.

At the time the entry documentation or the entry summary is filed, or transmitted to CBP under the statement processing method of 19 CFR 24.25 (19 CFR 141.101). Where merchandise was released on entry documentation first, the deposit is made when the entry summary is filed.

A bill of lading or air waybill presented by its holder and properly endorsed, a carrier's certificate, or a duplicate bill of lading (19 CFR 141.11(a)). A nonnegotiable bill of lading or air waybill may not be endorsed by the named consignee to give someone else the right to make entry (19 CFR 141.11(a)(1)); CBP Directive 3530-002A is the designated CBLE reference on this subject.

A power of attorney issued by a partnership is limited to a period not exceeding 2 years from the date of execution; all other powers of attorney may be granted for an unlimited period (19 CFR 141.34). Any POA is revocable at any time by written notice received by CBP (19 CFR 141.35).

Conditions in 19 CFR 113.62 include depositing and paying duties, taxes, and charges when due, making or completing entry, producing documents and evidence CBP requests, redelivering merchandise on timely demand, and holding conditionally released merchandise intact for examination.

No CBP bond may be less than $100, and the amount is always stated to the next highest dollar (19 CFR 113.13(a)). Single transaction bonds are approved by the Revenue Division or the port where filed, while continuous bonds must be approved by the Revenue Division, and only one continuous bond per activity is authorized for each principal (19 CFR 113.12).

An entry not liquidated within 1 year from the date of entry is deemed liquidated at the rate of duty, value, quantity, and amount of duties asserted by the importer of record (19 CFR 159.11(a)). CBP posts the deemed liquidation electronically.

Yes. The Center director may extend it for an additional period not to exceed 1 year when CBP lacks information needed for proper appraisement or classification, or when the importer requests it in writing before the period expires and shows good cause (19 CFR 159.12(a)(1)). Total extensions cannot exceed 3 years (19 CFR 159.12(e)), and the period may also be suspended as required by statute or court order.

For a decision relating to an entry made on or after December 18, 2004, a protest must be filed within 180 days after the notice or date of liquidation or reliquidation, or after the protestable decision (19 CFR 174.12(e)). Entries made before that date carry the older 90-day deadline.

In sequence: the country where the good is wholly obtained or produced; the country where it is produced exclusively from domestic materials; or the country where every foreign material meets the applicable tariff shift in 19 CFR 102.20. If none of those settles it, origin follows the single material that imparts the essential character.

An additional duty of 10 percent of the final appraised value, unless the article is exported or destroyed under CBP supervision before liquidation (19 CFR 134.2, implementing 19 U.S.C. 1304(f)). It applies both to a missing origin marking and to missing words or symbols needed to prevent deception.

When U.S. manufacture converts it into an article with a name, character, or use different from the imported article, the U.S. manufacturer becomes the "ultimate purchaser" and the article itself is excepted from marking (19 CFR 134.35(a)). The outermost containers of the imported articles must still be marked.

Privileged foreign status fixes classification and the duty and tax rate as of the date the application for that status is filed in proper form, and it must be requested before zone manipulation changes the tariff classification (19 CFR 146.41, 146.65(a)(1)). Nonprivileged foreign merchandise is classified instead in the character and condition it has when entered for consumption from the zone.

Up to 30 days from the date the merchandise is presented for examination; if it is still not released after that period, the article is deemed excluded under 19 U.S.C. 1499(c) (19 CFR 133.21(b)(1)). The mark must be registered on the USPTO Principal Register and recorded with CBP.

Transaction value; transaction value of identical merchandise; transaction value of similar merchandise; deductive value; computed value; then the fallback value of 19 CFR 152.107 (19 CFR 152.101(b)). The importer may ask to reverse deductive and computed value, but the request must be made when the entry summary is filed.

The price actually paid or payable for the merchandise when sold for exportation to the United States, plus the statutory additions (19 CFR 152.103(a)-(b)). The price counts regardless of how it was derived, so discounts, negotiated changes, and formula pricing are all acceptable starting points.

Packing costs incurred by the buyer, any selling commission incurred by the buyer, the apportioned value of any assist, royalties or license fees the buyer must pay as a condition of the sale for export, and proceeds of a later resale accruing to the seller (19 CFR 152.103(b)(1)). No other additions are permitted, and each must rest on sufficient information.

Anything the buyer supplies free or at reduced cost for use in producing or selling the merchandise for export to the United States: materials and components incorporated in the goods; tools, dies, and molds used to produce them; merchandise consumed in production; and engineering, development, artwork, design work, and plans undertaken outside the United States (19 CFR 152.102(a)(1)).

Only if separately identified from the price: reasonable costs for post-importation construction, erection, assembly, maintenance, or technical assistance; transportation after importation; and U.S. customs duties and federal taxes payable by reason of importation (19 CFR 152.103(i)). International freight and insurance are likewise no part of the price actually paid or payable.

When examining the circumstances of sale shows the relationship did not influence the price, or when the value closely approximates a test value: the transaction value of identical or similar merchandise sold to unrelated U.S. buyers, or the deductive or computed value of identical or similar merchandise (19 CFR 152.103(j)(2)). The comparison merchandise must have been exported at or about the same time.

Deductive value works backward from the U.S. resale price, subtracting usual commissions or profit and general expenses, international and domestic transportation and insurance, U.S. duties and federal taxes, and any post-importation processing value (19 CFR 152.105(d)). Computed value builds forward from materials and fabrication, plus profit and general expenses usual for that class or kind, any assist, and packing costs (19 CFR 152.106(a)).

An ad valorem fee of 0.3464 percent of the value determined under 19 U.S.C. 1401a, payable by the importer of record when the entry summary is presented (19 CFR 24.23(b)(1)(i)(A)). The $25 minimum and $485 maximum in the regulation are base amounts adjusted every fiscal year under 19 CFR 24.22(k), and a manual formal entry adds a base $3 surcharge.

A port use fee of 0.125 percent of the value of commercial cargo loaded onto or unloaded from a commercial vessel at a port listed in the regulation (19 CFR 24.24(a)). It therefore does not reach air or truck shipments, and exemptions and special rules appear in 19 CFR 24.24(c)-(d).

A complete claim must be successfully transmitted through a CBP-authorized system no later than 5 years after the date the merchandise designated as the basis for the claim was imported (19 CFR 190.51(e)(1)). A claim not completed inside that 5-year window is considered abandoned.

No more than 99 percent of the duties, taxes, and fees paid on the imported merchandise (19 CFR 190.21, 190.31). For substitution drawback the ceiling is 99 percent of the lesser of the amount paid on the imported merchandise or the amount that would apply to the substituted merchandise if it were imported (19 CFR 190.22(a)(1)(ii), 190.32(b)).

An absolute or quantitative quota permits only a limited number of units to be entered or withdrawn for consumption in a period, and once it fills, no further entries or withdrawals are allowed. A tariff-rate quota permits a specified quantity at a reduced duty rate, and merchandise beyond that quantity still enters at the higher over-quota rate (19 CFR 132.1(a)-(b)).

The ACE Entry Summary Instructions, with Version 2.4a designated for the October 28, 2026 exam. It supplies the block-by-block rules for the entry summary data elements that practical-exercise questions ask you to complete.

Schedule D of Annex C to the HTSUS lists CBP district and port codes. CBP's published answer keys (for example, the April 2026 key) cite "Schedule D of Annex C, HTSUS" for practical-exercise items that ask for the port of entry or port of unlading code.

CBP Form 5106, Create/Update Importer Identity Form, filed with the first formal entry or the first request for services that will produce a bill or a refund (19 CFR 24.5(a)). Use the IRS employer identification number, or the Social Security number if no EIN has been assigned; if neither exists, CBP assigns an importer identification number.

Deduct the international freight and insurance to reach the declared customs value, but only when the actual charges are known. General Statistical Note 1(b)(ii) of the HTSUS bars deducting estimated charges from the price for customs value, even though estimates may be reported for statistical purposes.