The bandwidth a tier 1 or tier 2 arbiter receives from its parent may be limited by the use of the rate command within the arbiter. When a rate limit is defined for a root arbiter, the system enforces the aggregate rate by calculating a per child policer PIR rate based on the distributed bandwidth per child. This calculated PIR is used to override the child's defined PIR and is represented as the child's operational PIR. The calculated rate is never greater than a child policer's provisioned rate.