October 2019 — Question 5
Which of the following is NOT “Customs Business” as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations?
- AThe payment of duties, taxes and other charges
- BCorporate compliance activity✓ CBP's answer
- CDetermining the admissibility of merchandise
- DDetermining the classification of merchandise
- EThe preparation and filing of CBP Form 7501
Why this answer
19 CFR 111.1 defines customs business to include classifying merchandise, determining admissibility, paying duties, taxes, and other charges, and preparing and filing entry documents such as CBP Form 7501, which is why options A, C, D, and E all fall inside the definition. The same section separately defines corporate compliance activity — work a business performs to ensure its own documents and operations comply with customs law — and provides that it is not customs business, so it may be done without a broker's license. The tempting mistake is treating the mere payment of duties as too ministerial to be customs business; the definition expressly includes it. Watch for: Assuming paying duties is too ministerial to count as customs business.
Original CBLE Simulator explanation — the question and key above are CBP's; this analysis is ours. Verify against the current edition before relying on it in practice.
CBP's cited authority
Answer and citations as published in CBP's official answer key for the October 2019 examination.
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