Answer first
Core rule
The importer of record with the right to make entry is the owner or purchaser, or a licensed customs broker designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee. A nominal consignee may designate a licensed broker but generally may not make entry on its own behalf; the evidence rules in Part 141 and the Right to Make Entry Directive control the analysis.
Authority and lookup route
Locate the rule before returning to the facts. Links point to government or official publications.
Reference lookup task
Find the Directive's definition of importer of record and the restriction placed on a nominal consignee.
Route: Open Directive 3530-002A and scan section 5.1 before checking the evidence provisions in Part 141.
Worked example
A nominal consignee wants to file the entry itself without using a licensed customs broker. Is that permitted under the Directive?
- 1Identify the party as a nominal rather than an actual consignee, owner, or purchaser.
- 2Locate the nominal-consignee rule in Directive 3530-002A section 5.1.
- 3Distinguish the power to designate a broker from the right to file independently.
- 4Conclude that the nominal consignee must use the permitted broker route described by the Directive.
Conclusion: No. The nominal consignee may designate a licensed broker but may not make entry on its own behalf under the stated rule.
Common traps
- Treating every named consignee as the owner or purchaser.
- Confusing possession of shipping documents with substantive right to make entry.
- Ignoring the broker designation required for a nominal consignee.