Customs gives postal importers three more months on formal-entry rule, on the day it was to take effect

By Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Thursday delayed, until Jan. 20, a requirement that importers file full formal customs entries for several categories of goods arriving through the international mail, in a notice published in the Federal Register on the same day the requirement was to take effect.

The final rule, signed for Commissioner Rodney S. Scott by Susan S. Thomas, the executive assistant commissioner for trade, extends the compliance date for two provisions of CBP’s postal entry regulations, 19 CFR 145.12(a)(2)(v) and (vi), from Oct. 22, 2026, to Jan. 20, 2027. The agency said importers, customs brokers and logistics companies “in the international postal network” need more time “to update their internal systems, develop policies and procedures for submission of relevant data, and to develop the technological infrastructure needed to comply.”

“Failure to afford the public extra time to comply with these requirements could lead to disruptions in the flow of important international postal shipments destined to Americans,” the notice says.

What is delayed, and what is not

The delay is narrower than it may sound. The end of duty-free treatment for low-value mail is unaffected. CBP suspended the de minimis exemption, which had let goods worth $800 or less enter without duty, for mail shipments in an interim final rule published June 24, and a companion rule did the same for packages arriving by express carrier, truck and other modes. Both followed President Trump’s Executive Order 14324 of July 2025 and its February 2026 continuation. Since July 24, most mailed goods valued at $2,500 or less have moved under a new, simpler “postal informal entry” process.

What the June rule carved out, and what now gets three more months, are mailed goods that cannot use that simpler process: shipments subject to requirements of other federal agencies (for example, food, drugs or regulated consumer products), goods subject to duties under Chapters 98 or 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (Chapter 99 is where temporary tariff actions, such as Section 232 and Section 301 duties, are listed), and goods for which duty-free treatment is claimed under Chapter 98 or a free trade agreement. For those, the June rule requires a formal entry, the fuller filing ordinarily required for commercial shipments valued above $2,500. CBP had set the original Oct. 22 date to give the trade time to adjust.

During the delay, those shipments continue to move under the informal mail process created in June, the notice says. CBP also pointed to its voluntary “Entry Type 13” electronic test for mail shipments of $2,500 or less, which began Sept. 22, as an alternative to formal entry for eligible goods once the delay ends.

No public comment

CBP issued the extension without advance notice or public comment, invoking the Administrative Procedure Act’s good-cause exception. A comment period, the agency wrote, “would overtake the current compliance deadline,” so importers who needed the extra time would not have gotten it. It also said the delay “does not conflict with the serious public health and safety implications” it cited in June, because the informal entry process remains in place.

The notice gives no figure for how many mail shipments fall into the delayed categories or how many filers were ready. It came two weeks after CBP proposed a broader overhaul of informal entries for goods valued at $2,500 or less, including a new electronic mail entry type, an added data element for carriers and bonding requirements for some informal entries. Comments on that proposal are due Dec. 7. Separately, the Postal Service revised its international mailing rules on Oct. 19 to spell out mailers’ customs responsibilities and how customs charges assessed after postage is bought will be paid or reimbursed.

Requests for comment

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from CBP’s Office of Public Affairs, the U.S. Postal Service, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, the National Retail Federation and the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, and will update this story with their responses.

Photo: Counterfeit goods seized by CBP officers at the JFK International Mail Facility in New York, Jan. 28, 2014. U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo, via Wikimedia Commons; public domain.