CBFCA calls for ‘rigorous referee checks’ by ACBPS when assessing brokers’ applications
AirCargo archive stories issue #237
Thursday, 11 June 2015
EFFORTS by the Australian Customs & Border Protection Service (ACBPS) to clarify the importance of acquired work experience for a Customs broker licence are helpful to the industry – but there is a seeming disconnect on why the CBFCA’s national examination was withdrawn, writes Kelvin King.
ACBPS recently issued a notice addressing acquired experience in Customs broker licensing, by Adam Friederich, acting assistant secretary Customs and Industry Branch.
“The most important element of demonstrating acquired experience is the applicant’s employment history. While successfully completing an examination can be an additional element in demonstrating acquired experience, it is not mandatory (and) neither is it sufficient in itself,” Friederich said.
The service and the National Customs Brokers Licensing Advisory Committee (NCBLAC) still would “have regard to the completion of any national examination or assessment as one element in assessing whether or not an applicant has ‘acquired experience that fits them to be a Customs broker’”.
Both ACBPS and NCBLAC “place greater importance on the relevant work experience of the applicant. The completion of a national examination or assessment is a relevant factor when assessing the acquired experience of an applicant for a Customs broker licence. However, it is not a determinative factor.
“Completion of a national examination or assessment is not mandatory and has, in fact, never been mandatory,” he said. CBFCA’s position
Bill Murphy (left), CBFCA’s manager Professional Development and Training said last November that historically, a pass in the national examination had been accepted by ACBPS as “prima facie evidence of the acquired experience of a Customs broker licence applicant”.
This was no longer the case, as ACBP now gives more credit to an applicant’s experience, including “testimonials and documented evidence provided by the applicant and by supervising licensed Customs brokers who can attest to the experience of the applicant working in a Customs brokerage.”
By comparison, he said, “CBFCA offers a Diploma of Customs Broking which, has inherent ‘higher academic and practical demands’ with an emphasis on scenario-based learning that “simulates a workplace environment very successfully. When combined with the evidence-based process of ensuring acquired experience obtained within the actual workplace, the CBFCA believes these combined outcomes are a more than satisfactory means of determining an applicant’s suitability to be licensed as a Customs broker”.
CBFCA has stressed to the ACBP “that a process of relying heavily upon referees’ submissions to determine acquired experience needs to be rigorously enforced by the regulator as to the bona fides of these referees’ reports.
“This is important if the process is to provide confidence to industry that standards for licensing will not decline,” he said. CBFCA stands by its decision to axe the national examination and focus on the diploma, says executive director Steve Morris.
The national exam, which Morris notes was for all-comers and “not locked away for our members,” was a tough deal which sometimes saw only 18-23 per cent of students achieving its pass mark of 75 per cent, well up on the TAFE’s 50 per cent. Some people sat three to four times.
Combined with equally-rigorous testing of acquired experience, it ensured that few if any duds slipped through the system and those who passed could be proud of their achievement.
On the other hand, Morris noted, many would-be brokers began to wonder whether it was worthwhile taking this difficult pathway if Customs was putting more emphasis on acquired experience.
And it was expensive to run, partly because CBFCA was “ultra-fair” about it. If a student failed by only a little, for instance, the exam script was sent for independent reassessment.
And a warning from Bill Murphy for referees thinking of gaming the system: “False and misleading statements made in support of an employee’s application for a licence are punishable by imprisonment of up to 12 months.”
CBFCA calls for ‘rigorous referee checks’ by ACBPS when assessing brokers’ applications
AirCargo archive stories issue #237
Thursday, 11 June 2015
EFFORTS by the Australian Customs & Border Protection Service (ACBPS) to clarify the importance of acquired work experience for a Customs broker licence are helpful to the industry – but there is a seeming disconnect on why the CBFCA’s national examination was withdrawn, writes Kelvin King.
ACBPS recently issued a notice addressing acquired experience in Customs broker licensing, by Adam Friederich, acting assistant secretary Customs and Industry Branch.
“The most important element of demonstrating acquired experience is the applicant’s employment history. While successfully completing an examination can be an additional element in demonstrating acquired experience, it is not mandatory (and) neither is it sufficient in itself,” Friederich said.
The service and the National Customs Brokers Licensing Advisory Committee (NCBLAC) still would “have regard to the completion of any national examination or assessment as one element in assessing whether or not an applicant has ‘acquired experience that fits them to be a Customs broker’”.
Both ACBPS and NCBLAC “place greater importance on the relevant work experience of the applicant. The completion of a national examination or assessment is a relevant factor when assessing the acquired experience of an applicant for a Customs broker licence. However, it is not a determinative factor.
“Completion of a national examination or assessment is not mandatory and has, in fact, never been mandatory,” he said. CBFCA’s position
Bill Murphy (left), CBFCA’s manager Professional Development and Training said last November that historically, a pass in the national examination had been accepted by ACBPS as “prima facie evidence of the acquired experience of a Customs broker licence applicant”.
This was no longer the case, as ACBP now gives more credit to an applicant’s experience, including “testimonials and documented evidence provided by the applicant and by supervising licensed Customs brokers who can attest to the experience of the applicant working in a Customs brokerage.”
By comparison, he said, “CBFCA offers a Diploma of Customs Broking which, has inherent ‘higher academic and practical demands’ with an emphasis on scenario-based learning that “simulates a workplace environment very successfully. When combined with the evidence-based process of ensuring acquired experience obtained within the actual workplace, the CBFCA believes these combined outcomes are a more than satisfactory means of determining an applicant’s suitability to be licensed as a Customs broker”.
CBFCA has stressed to the ACBP “that a process of relying heavily upon referees’ submissions to determine acquired experience needs to be rigorously enforced by the regulator as to the bona fides of these referees’ reports.
“This is important if the process is to provide confidence to industry that standards for licensing will not decline,” he said. CBFCA stands by its decision to axe the national examination and focus on the diploma, says executive director Steve Morris.
The national exam, which Morris notes was for all-comers and “not locked away for our members,” was a tough deal which sometimes saw only 18-23 per cent of students achieving its pass mark of 75 per cent, well up on the TAFE’s 50 per cent. Some people sat three to four times.
Combined with equally-rigorous testing of acquired experience, it ensured that few if any duds slipped through the system and those who passed could be proud of their achievement.
On the other hand, Morris noted, many would-be brokers began to wonder whether it was worthwhile taking this difficult pathway if Customs was putting more emphasis on acquired experience.
And it was expensive to run, partly because CBFCA was “ultra-fair” about it. If a student failed by only a little, for instance, the exam script was sent for independent reassessment.
And a warning from Bill Murphy for referees thinking of gaming the system: “False and misleading statements made in support of an employee’s application for a licence are punishable by imprisonment of up to 12 months.”
Bill Murphy (left), CBFCA’s manager Professional Development and Training said last November that historically, a pass in the national examination had been accepted by ACBPS as “prima facie evidence of the acquired experience of a Customs broker licence applicant”. 
