Under the Customs Act 1901 (Cth), a sole trader licence can only be granted if the Comptroller-General of Customs is satisfied that:
- the applicant is a fit and proper person
- the applicant is qualified to be a customs broker
- each employee of the applicant who would participate in the work of the applicant if the applicant was licensed as a customs broker is a fit and proper person.
A licensed sole trader customs broker can only operate their customs brokerage business through either one or more people who hold a nominee customs broker licence, this may include yourself if you are already a nominee customs broker or can demonstrate that you meet the requirements to be granted a nominee broker licence.
If you do not already hold a nominee customs broker licence, you will need to satisfy the Comptroller-General that you are 'qualified to be a customs broker' even if you intend to employ other person(s) to act as nominees of your proposed customs brokerage business.
This means that, in addition to being a fit and proper person, you will need to demonstrate that:
- you have completed an approved course of study (or have been exempted from that requirement)
- you meet the same standard of acquired experience that a nominee customs broker must meet.
You can do this by following the guidelines on this page and supplying the information requested in the checklist. This will enable an assessment to be made of whether or not you are 'qualified to be a customs broker' but you
will not have to pay the nominee broker licence application fee and you
will not be issued with a nominee licence.
