Two weeks from today, the last informal lane into the United States picks up a filing requirement.
CBP begins its Entry Type 13 test on September 22. The general notice ran in the Federal Register on June 24, 2026, at 91 FR 38007. A follow-up trade message, CSMS #69289734 dated July 20, set the software calendar. The new entry type hit the ACE certification environment on July 24 and reaches production on September 22.
If an overseas supplier still puts samples and small replenishment runs in the international post, the next two sections matter.
What entry type 13 is
Entry type 13 is an electronic informal entry for merchandise arriving through the international postal network, valued at $2,500 or less. It gets filed in ACE, the same system brokers use for freight.
It exists because postal de minimis is gone. CBP indefinitely suspended the duty-free de minimis exemption for mail on articles valued at $800 or less, under Executive Order 14324 of July 30, 2025 and Executive Order 14388 of February 20, 2026. Mail shipments have run through an interim informal process at 19 CFR 145.12(b) ever since. Entry type 13 is the automated version CBP is testing before it replaces that process for good.
Participation is voluntary. There is no application.
Four things CBP wants on every shipment
An entry type 13 filing transmits:
- Filer code and importer of record number
- Description of the merchandise, its country of origin, its value, and the total duty owed
- Every applicable 10-digit HTSUS classification, including any secondary classification in Chapters 98 or 99, plus the duty rate attached to it
- Carrier name, arrival port, the tracking number generated by the foreign post, and (where a specific duty rate applies) quantity and weight
Goods with partner government agency requirements or extra duties, like Section 232 or Section 301, transmit that data on top.
A bond is required too, a basic importation and entry bond under 19 CFR 113.62, single transaction or continuous.
The importer of record question is the one that bites
The right to make entry belongs to the owner or purchaser of the goods, or to a licensed customs broker they appoint. A consignee who is neither owner nor purchaser cannot file at all. That group includes foreign postal operators, USPS, freight forwarders, and carriers. They have to appoint a broker, and that broker becomes the importer of record with its own bond obligated.
Put that in warehouse terms. When a factory mails you 40 units to bridge a stockout, the post office is not clearing it for you. You file, or you pay a broker to file. Duty gets paid either way, and the notice puts penalties, administrative sanctions, liquidated damages, and other enforcement action on participants who get it wrong.
Shipments subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, or to quotas, stay out of informal entry entirely. CBP can also require a formal entry on any mail shipment at any value when it decides revenue needs protecting.
What this means for your brand
If you ship 1,000 to 25,000 orders a month and import anything, the next two weeks look like this.
- Classify before you order, not after it ships. Every line needs a 10-digit HTSUS code. On a signed entry, a wrong code is an enforcement matter rather than a correction notice.
- Stop treating the post as a freight lane. Entry costs do not shrink with the shipment. Forty units by mail can cost more per unit to clear than four thousand units by ocean.
- Consolidate inbound. Fewer, larger shipments spread the fixed cost of an entry across more units and land on a date you can plan around.
- Put duty in your landed cost now. The Q4 pricing you set in September is the pricing you live with through January.
The timing is the irritating part. September 22 falls in the window when brands are chasing last inventory before China closes for Golden Week on September 25, which we covered earlier this week. Air and post are the two fast lanes when a purchase order slips. One now comes with a filing.
Once goods land, the rest is ordinary work. We receive inbound freight at Canal Winchester and hold it in warehouse storage so you can draw it down in small waves through peak instead of pushing it all into a marketplace warehouse in October. On the way out, international shipping through our FlavorCloud partnership handles duties before delivery, so a customer in Toronto is not the one surprised at the door.
A licensed customs broker is the right person to confirm your classifications and bond. Knowing who is named as importer of record on your inbound mail is an hour of work, better spent before September 22 than after a package sits. Talk to us about the inbound side of your Q4 plan.
FAQ
Does entry type 13 apply to orders I ship to overseas customers?
No. It covers merchandise arriving in the United States through the international postal network. Orders leaving your warehouse for a customer abroad are exports and follow other rules.
Is filing entry type 13 mandatory on September 22?
No. The test is voluntary, and qualifying shipments can still use the interim informal process at 19 CFR 145.12(b). CBP says it plans to replace that interim process with an automated one, so the test previews where this lands.
What happens if no one files an entry for a mail shipment?
It does not get released. Since the de minimis suspension, mail shipments need an entry under an appropriate entry type, and CBP can demand a formal entry regardless of value.
Do I need a customs broker to participate?
If you are the owner or purchaser of the goods, you can file in ACE yourself. Most brands at this volume use a broker who already has the bond, the software, the filer code, and the classification experience.