Thursday, May 14, 2009

CBE Appeal Checklist

As the excitement and anticipation fades, some of you may be thinking about appealing your exam score. If you appeal your CBP Exam score, it is important to follow CBP’s appeal requirements. CBP will reject the appeal if it:

  • is incomplete, is untimely, or is in the wrong format.
  • includes any arguments written by another person.
  • does not provide supporting arguments.
  • argues for an answer the applicant did not select.
  • contests an incomplete erasure or insufficient marking on the applicant’s answer sheet.

CBP will provide to the examinee written notice of the decision on the appeal. If the CBP decision on the appeal affirms the result of the examination, the examinee may request review of the decision on the appeal by writing to the Secretary of Homeland Security, or his designee, within 60 calendar days after the date of the notice of that decision. 19 CFR 111.13(f)

The most frequent question we hear is “when will CBP notify me if they accept my appeal?” Unfortunately, there is no magic answer for that question. People who have shared their experiences lead us to believe that you are not likely to receive an answer before the date of the next exam. This could be frustrating because if your appeal is approved, it may not be necessary for you to take the next exam. However, if you appeal is not approved, you may want to take the next test while the information is still fresh.

Save yourself some time and expense by submitting your very best arguments the first time. To help you submit an appeal that complies with CBP requirements, we have created the CBE Appeal Checklist. Be sure to review each item and place a check mark next to the individual requirements.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are there any general ideas as to what questions are a good candidate for an appeal??

Do you know if anyone has actually recieved their results yet?

Anonymous said...

What questions from the April 2009 exam are appealable?

Karin said...

Wizard on Protest Questions

Since CBP granted credit to everyone for three questions, it's going to be much more difficult to find questions suitable for protest. The Wizard searched and came up with two potential questions - #24 and #48.

On Question 24, the Wizard agrees with the classification, but is not clear on why Answer D is preferable to Answer C. It implies the good is of Canadian origin and subject to NAFTA, whereas Answer C does not indicate any origin.

Answer A appears to be incorrect by requiring the good to be originating in Australia; however, GN 28(b) states that the good can originate in Australia, the U.S. or both. Therefore, the good could be originating in Australia and U.S. However, it is not incorrect to state that the goods must be originating in Australia. Depending on how the question and answer are read and interpreted, one could read it as the goods must "only" originate in Australia in which case the components from the U.S. would not be allowed. This would not be correct since goods from both countries are allowed. Addressing Answer B, many of the FTA's require the good to be "imported directly"; however, that language is not found in GN28. It is found in some of the rulings, such as N016160. It is listed as GN28 (b)(iv); however, the "imported directly" is not found in the HTS as part of that reference. This question merits consideration for protest.

Karin said...

Wizard Makes Correction to Protest Comment

Sorry - forgot to identify Question 48. The explanation to Q48 starts in the third paragraph.

Anonymous said...

Wizard,I need 3 questions to pass,and I find 4 that I think might be protestable,by the way 2 of the 4 I came up with are #24 and 48 that you mentioned are possible protests.My concern is how realistic is it to think I could be granted 3 on protest? Is it worth trying to get 3 or would I be better served spending all my time studying? Obviously I will continue to study for Oct.09 and not rely on an appeal.I am also curious about questions #40 and 58,for question 40 they refer to the CFR and 7501 instructions,which mentions shipper AND manufacturer,yet #58 refers to Directive 3550-055,so which source do we reply upon??.I think Customs is confusing when it comes to the correct source for the Manufacturer/Shipper ID ??

Anonymous said...

I need two question in order to get the minimum passing grade for the custom broker exam april 2009. Could anyone please tell which two question are good for protest.
Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

Regarding Question 40 - also look in the Appendix to Part 102 in the CFR. It mentions here about manufacturers in Macau, however does not mention this fact in either the Directive 3550-055 or "instructions for completing the 7501". If you referenced the Customs Directive 3550-055 as opposed to the Appendix to Part 102, you would be lead to believe that the answer was A and not D....just something to consider.

Anonymous said...

Question #15 should be appealable.
According to Customs the correct answer is B "must be filed prior to liquidation of the entry"Answer A"at the time of importation of the goods" Obviously importation of the goods must occur prior to liquidation,so why wouldn't A be a correct answer?

Anonymous said...

Regarding question #15 as an appeal question,please take a look at question # 11.The correct answer according to Customs,contradicts the answer to #15.Any thoughts?

Anonymous said...

I need 1 more question to pass. My answer is E on Q22

As per Wizard Comments on Q22

"While the Wizard originally selected Answer D, HTS Section XI Statistical Note 2(a) shed new light on the subject and prompted a change to Answer E.

The term "subject to cotton restraints" means articles in which: (i) The cotton component equals or exceeds 50 percent by weight of all the component fibers thereof."

Anonymous said...

I also appealed 22 on similar grounds.

Anonymous said...

I received a phone call from someone at Customs Border Protection and he informed me my appeal was accepted. They will not be able to get the letters out before the October 2009 exam so they have been calling people who are signed up to take the next test. I appealed questions 24 and 48 and they accepted them both. On question 24 I said the answer should be C not D. And on question 48 I said the answer should be A not B.

Karin said...

Wizard Responds to "Appeal Approved"

Does this mean you passed the exam? Congratulations! The Wizard is pleased to learn that you passed and that CBP agreed with those two questions that were discussed right here in this appeal blog!

Hopefully, there will be more success stories posted soon!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous response to Wizard "Appeal Approved"

Yes! Due to them accepting the two questions on my appeal, I passed the exam!