[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 19, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 19CFR111.1]

[Page 451-453]
 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
 
PART 111--CUSTOMS BROKERS--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A--General Provisions
 
Sec. 111.1  Definitions.


    When used in this part, the following terms have the meanings 
indicated:
    Assistant Commissioner. ``Assistant Commissioner'' means the 
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, United States 
Customs Service, Washington, DC.
    Broker. ``Broker'' means a customs broker.

[[Page 452]]

    Customs broker. ``Customs broker'' means a person who is licensed 
under this part to transact customs business on behalf of others.
    Customs business. ``Customs business'' means those activities 
involving transactions with Customs concerning the entry and 
admissibility of merchandise, its classification and valuation, the 
payment of duties, taxes, or other charges assessed or collected by 
Customs on merchandise by reason of its importation, and the refund, 
rebate, or drawback of those duties, taxes, or other charges. ``Customs 
business'' also includes the preparation, and activities relating to the 
preparation, of documents in any format and the electronic transmission 
of documents and parts of documents intended to be filed with Customs in 
furtherance of any other customs business activity, whether or not 
signed or filed by the preparer. However, ``customs business'' does not 
include the mere electronic transmission of data received for 
transmission to Customs.
    District. ``District'' means the geographic area covered by a 
customs broker permit other than a national permit. A listing of each 
district, and the ports thereunder, will be published periodically.
    Employee. ``Employee'' means a person who meets the common law 
definition of employee and is in the service of a customs broker.
    Freight forwarder. ``Freight forwarder'' means a person engaged in 
the business of dispatching shipments in foreign commerce between the 
United States, its territories or possessions, and foreign countries, 
and handling the formalities incident to such shipments, on behalf of 
other persons.
    Officer. ``Officer'', when used in the context of an association or 
corporation, means a person who has been elected, appointed, or 
designated as an officer of an association or corporation in accordance 
with statute and the articles of incorporation, articles of agreement, 
charter, or bylaws of the association or corporation.
    Permit. ``Permit'' means any permit issued to a broker under 
Sec. 111.19.
    Person. ``Person'' includes individuals, partnerships, associations, 
and corporations.
    Records. ``Records'' means documents, data and information referred 
to in, and required to be made or maintained under, this part and any 
other records, as defined in Sec. 163.1(a) of this chapter, that are 
required to be maintained by a broker under part 163 of this chapter.
    Region. ``Region'' means the geographic area covered by a waiver 
issued pursuant to Sec. 111.19(d).
    Responsible supervision and control. ``Responsible supervision and 
control'' means that degree of supervision and control necessary to 
ensure the proper transaction of the customs business of a broker, 
including actions necessary to ensure that an employee of a broker 
provides substantially the same quality of service in handling customs 
transactions that the broker is required to provide. While the 
determination of what is necessary to perform and maintain responsible 
supervision and control will vary depending upon the circumstances in 
each instance, factors which Customs will consider include, but are not 
limited to: The training required of employees of the broker; the 
issuance of written instructions and guidelines to employees of the 
broker; the volume and type of business of the broker; the reject rate 
for the various customs transactions; the maintenance of current 
editions of the Customs Regulations, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States, and Customs issuances; the availability of an 
individually licensed broker for necessary consultation with employees 
of the broker; the frequency of supervisory visits of an individually 
licensed broker to another office of the broker that does not have a 
resident individually licensed broker; the frequency of audits and 
reviews by an individually licensed broker of the customs transactions 
handled by employees of the broker; the extent to which the individually 
licensed broker who qualifies the district permit is involved in the 
operation of the brokerage; and any circumstance which indicates that an 
individually licensed broker has a real interest in the operations of a 
broker.
    Treasury Department or any representative of the Treasury 
Department.

[[Page 453]]

``Treasury Department or any representative of the Treasury Department'' 
means any office, officer, or employee of the U.S. Department of the 
Treasury, wherever located.