Broker
A licensed broker
A licensed broker is an entity who holds a broker's licence granted in accordance with Part XI of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act). Under the Act an owner of goods may authorise an agent, (either an employee of the owner or a customs broker) to act on his or her behalf, for the importation of goods into Australia. The authorisation must be in writing.
There are three categories of licensed brokers:
- Corporate licensed broker:
A company or partnership; - Sole trader licensed broker:
A natural person licensed as a broker; who intends to act as a Customs Broker in their own right for owners of goods for the purposes of the Customs Act, who operates as a sole trader. - Nominee licensed broker:
A natural person licensed as a broker, who does not intend to act as a Customs Broker in their own right for owners of goods for the purposes of the Customs Act. A nominee broker is employed by a corporate licensed broker or a sole trader licensed broker.
See: Application packages: Corporate, Sole Trader and Nominee.
See: Licensing Customs Brokers
See: Customs Brokers Responsibilities
See: Australian Customs Notice 2008/49
See: Australian Customs Notice 2004/20 - Exemption from Requirement - Approved Course of Study
See: Fact Sheet - Acquired Experience - Application for a Customs Broker's Licence
Can a trust be licensed?
The Act only allows for the licensing of natural persons, companies or partnerships. A trust is not one of these entities.
When is the licence granted?
Documentary checks conducted by Customs and Border protection include verification of information provided, gathering information for assessment of integrity, and allowing the public to make submissions in relation to an applicant. Once all documentary checks are completed on an application, it is referred to the National Customs Brokers Licensing Advisory Committee (the Committee) for consideration. This process takes approximately eight weeks.
The Committee comprises of a representative from; Customs, industry and is chaired by a former judicial officer. It investigates the matters that the CEO is to consider for each broker licence application to decide whether or not the licence should be granted. The Committee may need to talk to applicants about their application by holding an inquiry. If the Committee wishes to hold an inquiry, an additional eight weeks from the date of the inquiry should be allowed.
Integrated Cargo System
To communicate with Customs on behalf of their clients¸ brokers must be registered as a client in the Customs Integrated Cargo System (ICS) and obtain a digital certificate. To ensure that ICS recognises a broker, it is important that the client registration, the broker licence, and the digital certificate are all in the same name, using the same Australian Business Number.
Nominee brokers do not need their own digital certificate but must be registered in the ICS.
For more information on any Customs matter, contact the Customs Information and Support Centre on 1300 363 263 or email information@customs.gov.au or browse the website http://www.customs.gov.au/.