Customshouse Broker vs. Licensed Customs Broker

Dear Import/Export Compliance Manager,

I see that there is apparently a difference of opinion between many people who have successfully passed the Customs Broker exam.  Some append ‘LCB’ to their names while others use ‘CHB’.  What do these stand for and, when I pass the exam on my first try (ha ha ha), which one do you recommend I use?

Not A Broker in New Brunswick

Dear Not A Broker,

As you may be aware, LCB stands for ‘Licensed Customs Broker’ while CHB stands for ‘Customhouse Broker’.  The International Compliance Professionals’ Association (ICPA) had a good ‘Ask The Membership’ e-mail on this a few years ago which seemed to firmly establish that Customhouse Broker was the old term while Licensed Customs Broker was the new one with both, as you note in your question, meaning the same thing.

Which one should you use?  The Import/Export Compliance Manager’s license calls it a ‘Customs Brokerage License’.  CBP references the term ‘Licensed Customs Broker’ on the Application for Customs Broker License (CF 3124).  The International Import-Export Institute refers to the status as a ‘Licensed Customs Broker’.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager doesn’t have hard numbers but is willing to bet that vast majority of us use ‘LCB’.  Therefore, if you want to go with the crowd and be less likely to run into confusion, you definitely should use ‘LCB’.

Since the Import/Export Compliance Manager doesn’t think any question is worth answering unless it takes at least five paragraphs to do so, let’s delve into why some use ‘CHB’ and what effect this has.  It is likely that most of those using CHB use it because, when they received their licenses, either that was the common term or it was what those closest to them used.  This is great.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager still refers to his having given ten speeches in the ToastMasters speaking organization as having achieved the level of Competent ToastMaster (CTM) even though the new standard is called Competent Communicator (CC).  Old habits die hard and besides, we all like to think that the way things were done in the past was better than how they are done today.  No harm, no foul, right?

The problem lies in whether we all want to make the field of import/export compliance a well-known and respected field among the general public and in industry.  Large steps have been taken to move us more into the mainstream.  The International Compliance Professionals’ Association (ICPA) has been rocking and rolling for more than a decade, more young people (i.e. a pipeline of new blood) are showing up at import/export compliance conferences, there are more university-level classes being offered on import/export compliance topics and most people are now aware of tariff and their impact.

Yet, we don’t have a set term used unilaterally for our highest certificate on the import compliance side of things.  Accountants don’t have this problem; if you pass their monster exam, you become a CPA.  Doctors of medicine append ‘M.D.’ to their names.  In import/export compliance, however, we don’t enforce a standardized term.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager would argue that this, in a small way, portrays the field as one that doesn’t quite have its act together.  If we truly want to be an internationally-recognized and awesome field on par with more established and well-known professions that don’t require a three minute explanation to your friends about what you do, we need to establish a definitive nomenclature, preferably by retiring the CHB name.  U.S Customs and Border Protection likely can't or won't dictate that this happen; the change will need to happen from within.  Be the change you want to see in the world, Not A Broker!  And good luck on the exam!