(CUSICO) Requirements
Certified U.S. Import Compliance Officer® – Knowledge Requirements:
The following topics are defined as within this body of knowledge and are reflected in the knowledge assessment requirements stated for this certification. A person holding this certification will have satisfactorily passed an examination that demonstrates a high degree of knowledge of these topics and knowledge requirements. Score 75% or higher on examination.
Continuing Education Requirement: IIEI Certification has set the further requirement that before an individual reaches their expiration date, all Certified U.S. Import Compliance Officers® must have completed 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) each year to maintain certification.
Industry Standard: (1) Demonstrate current knowledge and usage of US import compliance regulations, concepts and processes. (2) Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of import documentation. (3) Demonstrate an understanding of the industry’s professional code of ethics:
| Topic: Specialized Importing Basics
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Knowledge Demonstrated |
| Develop a working knowledge of basics of importing, including: | Integration of sourcing, purchasing, logistics, Customs clearance, and marketing functions with outside Customs Brokers. |
| Costing out imports, including transportation, duties, fees, taxes. | |
| Functions and value-added of outside Customs Brokers. | |
| Classification of goods according to the core Harmonized Tariff Schedule and the student’s own country-specific HTS. | |
| Valuation of imported goods for Customs entry. | |
| Marking and “other agency” requirements. | |
| Concepts of antidumping and countervailing duties, prohibited articles, foreign trade zones, bonded warehouses, drawback, free trade agreements and customs unions |
| Topic: Specialized Knowledge of Duties & Regulations | Knowledge Demonstrated |
| Importing Duties & Regulations | Determine and recognize your duties and responsibilities as an importer
Requirements |
| Utilize the provisions of Marking Regulations and “Other Agency” | |
| Identify Prohibitions and Restrictions | |
| Understand the role of the Customs Brokers and their integration into the import process. | |
| Entries and the Entry Process | Identify the types of entries available to the importer and recognize their various advantages. |
| Distinguish the steps in the formal entry process. | |
| The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States of America | Utilize the HTSUSA for the importing organization.
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| Determine the correct application of the General Rules of Interpretation | |
| Establish the correct duty rate for an article. | |
| Valuations and Quotas | Identify the valuation methods acceptable to Customs. |
| Recognize assists and implement them into proper valuation. | |
| Describe the process of currency conversion for Customs entry. | |
| Recognize types of quotas in the HTSUSA and their implications for importers. | |
| Bonded Warehouses and Foreign Trade Zones | Differentiate between bonded warehouses and Foreign Trade Zones and their relative advantages. |
| Recognize the value and use of bonded warehouses and Foreign Trade Zone for the importing organization. | |
| Additional Import Procedures | Determine the correct use of customs bonds for the import situation. |
| Understand and interpret liquidation. | |
| Specialized Import Procedures | Assess the need for protest and prepare a protest as appropriate. |
| Assess the need for binding rulings and prepare a binding ruling request as appropriate.
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| Identify special classes of merchandise. | |
| Specialized Import Procedures | Assess the use of drawback and TIB in, and their value to, the importing organization. |
| Understand the use of sampling by Customs. | |
| Analyze the key elements of FCPA as they pertain to potential business actions.
Identify opportunities for use of Carnets. |
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| The Customs Modernization Act of 1993 | Recognize compliance needs with Modernization Act requirements. |
| Understand and implement Informed Compliance in the importing organization. |
| Topic: Specialized Knowledge of Incoterms® | Knowledge Demonstrated |
| Terms of sale in the export or import transaction | Identify the need for clear terms of sale in an export or import transaction. |
| Evaluate the components to be negotiated within a transaction | |
| Recognize the importance of Incoterms ® 2010 as a broadly accepted system internationally. | |
| Distinguish changes from Incoterms 2000 | |
| Recognize the importance of Incoterms® 2010 in negotiating profitable and efficient international contracts | |
| Documentation in the export or import transaction | Assess documentation needs for the transaction |
| The E Term | Understand the use of the E term. |
| Rules for Any Mode or Modes of Transport | Assess the Use of Intermodal Transport |
| Determine the use of the FCA Incoterms® rule | |
| Determine the use of the CPT and CIP Incoterms® rules | |
| The C Terms | Review the use of the C terms. |
| The D Terms | Explain the use of the D terms |
| Specialized Knowledge of C-TPAT | Knowledge Demonstrated |
| C-TPAT | Identify the need for C-TPAT in terms of national security |
| Impact of C-TPAT on the importer | Evaluate the advantages and benefits to the C-TPAT importer. |
| Formulate the consequences for non-C-TPAT companies | |
| Assess the role of the C-TPAT importer in relationship to its business partners. | |
| The C-TPAT Company Profile | Create a C-TPAT Company Profile |
| Implement the C-TPAT Agreement. | |
| The C-TPAT Security Profile and Security Link Portal | Create a C-TPAT Security Profile. |
| Integrate appropriate data using the Security Link Portal | |
| Validate Seller’s Security | |
| Integrating business partner C-TPAT certification into the importer’s C-TPAT program | |
| C-TPAT and Business Strategy | Integrating C-TPAT into the importer’s business strategy to its advantage |
| Distinguish Best Practices for C-TPAT supply chain security. | |
| Differentiate the three C-TPAT tiers and their purpose | |
| Participate in the Status Verification Interface. | |
| Integrate FAST into North American border trade. | |
| Justify the integration of Importer Self-Assessment into the importing strategy. |
| Topic: Specialized Knowledge of Ethics in Importing | Knowledge Demonstrated |
| Role of Import Compliance Function | Define the role of import compliance within an organization |
| Ethics Defined | Differentiate between morals and ethics. |
| Identify ethical issues. | |
| Traditional View of Ethics | Determine how individuals establish their ethical values. |
| Understand how ethics and the law relate to one another. | |
| Identify the forces that shape personal ethics. | |
| Impact of Ethics on a Company | Distinguish the forces within a company that shapes its ethical actions. |
| New Ethical Standards | Recognize the challenges of establishing new ethical or compliance standards |
| Resistance to Change | Analyze the relationship of the various existing formal and informal policies (or lack of them) that supports an organization’s current ethical actions. |
| Determine why ethical practices should remain constant over time. | |
| Compliance Environment | Discuss the reasons why compliance regulations and ethical actions clash. |
| Ethical Situations in Compliance | Evaluate the forces in the business environment that cause ethical dilemmas in compliance. |
| Identify the possible participants that can cause an ethical issue to exist. | |
| Establishing an Ethical Stance | Design an individual ethical position that supports a compliant organization within the context of the letter and the spirit of the law. |
| Monitoring and Control of Ethical Compliance | Recognize the importance of all employees’ actions to support the compliance effort |
| Assess the actions of individuals in the workplace as they relate to trade compliance | |
| Determine the basic methods used to control ethical actions in the compliance workplace. |
| Topic: Specialized Knowledge of Import Management | Knowledge Demonstrated |
| Introduction to topics in importing | Assess the reasons for a country or company to import |
| Examine traditional international trade theories | |
| Analyze the key barriers to trade and the need to overcome them | |
| Topics in Costing | Analyze the true cost of the import |
| Prioritize the need to negotiate and negotiation skills | |
| Analyze the key elements of FCPA as they pertain to potential business actions | |
| Recognize the costs of inventory to the import model | |
| Recognize the importance of cash flow to the import model | |
| Assess and manage the true lead time in a transaction | |
| Establish the point of delivery and its importance to the import model | |
| Identify the importance of terms of sale and their negotiation | |
| Identify international agreements and their impact on importers | |
| Managing Differences in Import Models | Determine currency differences and the need for foreign exchange management |
| Distinguish country and political risk | |
| Determine fungibility and its impact | |
| Determine the presence of substitutes and their potential effects | |
| Anticipate factors related to boycott | |
| Advanced Negotiation for Importers | Negotiation strategies utilizing uniqueness |
| Determine the use of exclusivity in negotiations | |
| Construct models of tariff engineering | |
| Assess the leverage between parties in the import transaction, and recognize its role in negotiations | |
| Identify and distinguish additional negotiation points for advanced importers | |
| Distinguish elements of the import transaction and construct the appropriate strategy |