The Customs and International Trade Bar Association

The Customs and International Trade Bar Association (CITBA) traces its origins to 1917, when twenty-nine lawyers who were members of bar of the Court of Customs Appeals or the Board of General Appraisers formed an unincorporated Association of the Customs Bar.  In 1926, the Association was incorporated by act of the New York State legislature.  The purposes of the Association laid out in the 1926 corporate charter are to maintain high standards in the practice of customs and international trade law before what are now the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; maintain high standards of legal ethics; seek to improve the legal system; facilitate the administration of justice; cultivate the science of jurisprudence; and cherish the spirit of brotherhood among its members.

After Congress changed the name of the United States Customs Court to the United States Court of International Trade in 1980, the Association of the Customs Bar changed its name to the Customs and International Trade Bar Association.

In March 2026, CITBA held a Centennial Gala Banquet in recognition of the one-hundredth anniversary of its incorporation.  The Honorable Judge Leo M. Gordon of the U.S. Court of International Trade delivered the keynote address.

             The following documents illustrate some of the history of the Association of the Customs Bar:

            Act of April 2, 1926, ch. 210, 1926 N.Y. Laws 384

            Association of the Customs Bar 1934 Pamphlet

            Association of the Customs Bar 1960 Pamphlet

            Association of the Customs Bar 1980 Pamphlet