Tag: customs compliance

A Quiet CBP Notice With a Big Deadline

On August 19, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection published a Federal Register notice most importers have never heard of: starting September 18, 2026, CBP will begin immediately voiding Importer of Record (IOR) numbers when the information on CBP Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete. The change is part of the initial rollout of Executive Order 14411, “Strengthening Customs Enforcement,” signed in June 2026.

Form 5106 is the form that ties an importer’s identity — legal name, tax ID (an EIN, a Social Security number, or a CBP-assigned number for people without either), mailing address, physical address, phone, and email — to their importer number. Once CBP voids that number, it becomes invalid for any purpose, including bringing goods into the country, until it’s formally reestablished.

Why This Matters More Than It Used To

For years, most personal shipments under $800 cleared as informal entries with barely a glance at who the importer was. That changed when the U.S. ended the de minimis exemption: most low-value imports now require a formal customs entry, complete with duties, taxes, and a valid importer number attached to CBP Form 7501. If you’re a reseller shipping product back to the Gulf, Mexico, or Latin America, or simply someone who buys regularly from US stores, a larger share of your shipments now likely runs through formal entry than did a year ago.

That means more of your parcels now depend on a piece of paperwork most people never think about. If the name, address, or tax ID on file doesn’t match — because you moved, misspelled something, or an old broker submission was never updated — CBP now has the authority to void the number immediately and notify you, and your broker, by email.

What CBP Is Actually Checking

According to CBP’s notice, enforcement focuses on the core fields captured on Form 5106:

• Legal name and tax identification number (EIN, SSN, or CBP-assigned number)
• Mailing address and physical address
• Phone number and current email address

Mismatches between these fields and other government records, or information that’s simply out of date, are enough to trigger a void. CBP sends notice to the most recent email address on file and copies the customs broker that last filed on the importer’s behalf — which is exactly why keeping that email current matters as much as the address itself.

What To Do Before September 18

• Confirm the name, address, and tax ID on your most recent Form 5106 or customs entries match your current, legal information exactly.
• Make sure the email address on file is one you actually check — that’s where CBP sends the void notice.
• If you ship regularly through a broker, ask directly whether your IOR data is current rather than assuming it carries over automatically.
• If a number does get voided, CBP’s notice includes instructions for reestablishing it — don’t ignore that email.

None of this is optional paperwork anymore. A voided importer number stops shipments cold until it’s fixed, and with formal entries now the default for most international purchases, that’s a real risk for anyone shipping product for resale.

Where Viabox Fits In

This is exactly the kind of detail that gets lost when you’re juggling multiple US sellers, a forwarder, and international customs on your own. Viabox already handles the US side of the equation — receiving your packages at a real US address, consolidating them, and forwarding them wherever you ship next — and part of that is keeping the information tied to your shipments consistent, instead of cobbled together from whatever address you used last time. If you’re shipping often enough that formal entries are now part of your routine, it’s worth making sure your importer information isn’t the thing that trips you up.

Take a few minutes this week to confirm your Form 5106 details are current — it’s a lot cheaper than a shipment stuck at the border on September 18.