CBP to Designate Non-Frequent Importers as Inactive

Starting July 16, 2026, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin setting importer accounts to Inactive if they have not filed an entry in 366 days. Filers of entries will receive a notice at Cargo Release or Entry Summary and will designate those companies ineligible to act as the importer of record for shipments into the United States. 

Per CBP: “This status does not affect non-entry functions for the IOR such as acting as a consignee, filing drawback claims, reconciliations, securing bonds, transmitting Importer Security Filing information, or other ACE business functions.”

If an account is designated as inactive, it will have to be reactivated. To accomplish this, CBP outlines the following procedures:

• A customs broker should submit an Importer/Consignee Create/Update (TP) message through Automated Broker Interface (ABI) with Action Code A to change the status from Inactive to Active.
• Importers who are unable to reactivate their IOR numbers via ABI may submit a revised CBP Form 5106 with all the mandatory data elements filled out to their Center Entry Team for manual reactivation.

For more information on this process, please reference CSMS # 69056621 - Process to Re-Activate a Deactivated Importer of Record in ACE.

John Boomhover
Director of Compliance & Customs Services
CV International, Inc.