What a customs power of attorney actually does

What you are signing, and what it is not

The requirement is at 19 CFR 141.46: before transacting Customs business in the name of his principal, a customhouse broker is required to obtain a valid power of attorney to do so. He is not required to file the power of attorney with CBP.

So a POA is the authority to act as your agent in customs matters: to prepare and transmit entries and entry summaries in your name, to file the ISF, to handle correspondence with CBP about your shipments, and to make payments on your behalf where you have arranged for it. It is not a transfer of ownership of your goods, it is not an assignment of your liability as importer of record, and it is not exclusive.

It is also, and this reassures people once they hear it, not a public document. Nothing is filed. There is no CBP registry of who holds POAs. It lives in your file and in the broker's file, which is exactly why revoking it has to be communicated deliberately rather than assumed.

How long it lasts and how you end it

Duration first. 19 CFR 141.34 provides that powers of attorney issued by a partnership shall be limited to a period not to exceed 2 years from the date of execution, and that all other powers of attorney may be granted for an unlimited period. The phrase to hold onto is may be. Unlimited is permitted, not automatic, so read the term on the document in front of you rather than assuming either way.

Ending it is a specific act with a specific address. 19 CFR 141.35 provides that any power of attorney shall be subject to revocation at any time by written notice given to and received by CBP, either at the port of entry or electronically. Written notice, to CBP, received. Telling your broker you are done is good manners and a contract matter, but the revocation is the notice to CBP.

That combination is the honest answer to the open-ended-power worry. The document can run without an end date, and you can end it on any day you choose, in writing, without anyone's agreement.

• It authorizes a licensed broker to transact customs business in your name, nothing broader.
• It is not filed with CBP and appears in no public registry.
• A partnership POA is capped at 2 years from execution; others may be granted for an unlimited period.
• It is revocable at any time by written notice given to and received by CBP, at the port of entry or electronically.
• It is not exclusive. You may have more than one broker acting for you.

The POA has to be signed directly with you, not through a forwarder

This is a rule worth knowing before somebody hands you a bundled packet. 19 CFR 111.36(c)(3) provides that the broker must execute a customs power of attorney directly with the importer of record or drawback claimant, and not via a freight forwarder or other third party, to transact customs business for that importer of record or drawback claimant. It continues: no part of the agreement of compensation between the broker and the forwarder, nor any action taken pursuant to the agreement, can forbid or prevent direct communication between the importer of record, drawback claimant, or other party in interest and the broker.

That was added by CBP Dec. 22-21, 87 FR 63318, on October 18, 2022, and it exists because importers were ending up with brokers they had never spoken to, arranged through a forwarder, with no line of communication to the person whose license was on the entry.

The practical test is simple. If you cannot name your broker and reach them directly, something in your arrangement is not built the way the regulation requires.

What the broker owes you back

A power of attorney is not a one-way document, and the strongest thing on the broker's side of it almost never gets mentioned. 19 CFR 111.29(a) provides that each broker must exercise due diligence in making financial settlements, in answering correspondence, and in preparing or assisting in the preparation and filing of records relating to any customs business matter handled by him as a broker.

Answering you is a regulatory duty of a licensed broker. Not a service level, not a courtesy, not something that depends on how large your account is. If you cannot get a straight answer about your own entries, that is not a personality problem, it is a due diligence problem, and it is written into the part of the regulations that governs licenses.

The same subsection puts numbers on the money side, and they are worth knowing before you hand anyone your funds. A broker must pay duty to the Government on or before the due date. Client payments received after the due date must be transmitted within 5 working days from receipt. And a broker must provide a written statement to a client accounting for funds received for the client from the Government within 60 calendar days of receipt. That last one covers refunds: when money comes back from CBP through your broker, you are owed a written accounting of it on a stated clock.

There is a second duty that shows up as a piece of paper. 19 CFR 111.29(b) requires a written notice telling you that payment to the broker does not relieve you of liability to CBP if the broker fails to pay. It has two mandatory triggers and they are cumulative, not alternatives: the notice must be given on or attached to every power of attorney provided for execution, and separately it must be given to each active client at least once within each 12-month period. That period is a rolling 12 months, not a calendar year, and active client means one with a power of attorney on file and at least two transactions in the preceding 12 months.

Before you sign anything

The questions worth asking are short. Who is the licensed broker, by name. What is the filer code. Is this POA being executed directly with me, as 111.36(c)(3) requires. What is the term on it. And who answers the phone when an entry has a hold at 4pm on a Friday.

For what it is worth, ours are: Julio Rodriguez US Customs Broker, CBP filer code EWV, licensed and filing since 2007, with two licensed brokers on staff and a POA executed directly with you.

What we cannot tell you from a page is whether the POA in front of you right now says what it should. Terms vary, some are bundled inside forwarding agreements, and some name a party you have never met. That takes about five minutes to read together.