(a) License—(1) General. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, a person must obtain the license provided for in this part in order to transact customs business as a broker.

(2) Transactions for which license is not required—(i) For one's own account. An importer or exporter transacting customs business solely on his own account and in no sense on behalf of another is not required to be licensed, nor are his authorized regular employees or officers who act only for him in the transaction of such business.

(ii) As employee of broker—(A) General. An employee of a broker, acting solely for his employer, is not required to be licensed where:

(1) Authorized to sign documents. The broker has authorized the employee to sign documents pertaining to customs business on his behalf, and has executed a power of attorney for that purpose. The broker is not required to file the power of attorney with CBP, but must provide proof of its existence to CBP upon request; or

(2) Authorized to transact other business. The broker has filed with the processing Center a statement identifying the employee as authorized to transact customs business on his behalf.

(B) Broker supervision; withdrawal of authority. Where an employee has been given authority under paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section, the broker must exercise sufficient supervision of the employee to ensure proper conduct on the part of the employee in the transaction of customs business, and the broker will be held strictly responsible for the acts or omissions of the employee within the scope of his employment and for any other acts or omissions of the employee which, through the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, the broker should have foreseen. The broker must promptly notify the processing Center if authority granted to an employee under paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section is withdrawn. The withdrawal of authority will be effective upon receipt by the processing Center.

(iii) Marine transactions. A person transacting business in connection with entry or clearance of vessels or other regulation of vessels under the navigation laws is not required to be licensed as a broker.

(iv) Transportation in bond. Any carrier bringing merchandise to the port of arrival or any bonded carrier transporting merchandise for another may make entry for that merchandise for transportation in bond without being a broker.

(v) Noncommercial shipments. An individual entering noncommercial merchandise for another party is not required to be a broker, provided that the requirements of § 141.33 of this chapter are met.

(vi) Foreign trade zone activities. A foreign trade zone operator or user need not be licensed as a broker in order to engage in activities within a zone that do not involve the transfer of merchandise to the customs territory of the United States.

(b) National permit. A national permit issued to a broker under § 111.19 will constitute sufficient permit authority for the broker to conduct customs business within the customs territory of the United States as defined in § 101.1 of this chapter.