Clearance Instructions From the Importer Are Required: What to Submit

When your tracking shows that clearance instructions from the importer are required, the carrier’s customs broker is telling you it cannot move your shipment through Customs and Border Protection until you provide specific documents and data. Federal law puts the responsibility for filing entry on the importer of record, and the broker has no authority to guess at values, descriptions, or tariff codes on your behalf.¹ Respond within a few days. Goods that sit unentered at a port start accruing storage fees at 15 days and can be auctioned as abandoned after six months.

Why the Hold Appeared

The notice shows up when a shipment reaches a U.S. port and the carrier’s brokerage team lacks the information to file an entry with CBP. Entry documentation has to give CBP enough detail to release the goods, assess the correct duties, and confirm compliance with any other legal requirements. Under federal regulation, that filing must come from the owner or purchaser of the goods, or from a licensed customs broker the importer has authorized in writing.² Until you provide instructions, the broker has no legal footing to act, and your shipment stays in customs custody.

Are You the One Who Needs to Respond?

Two roles often get mixed up when this status appears. The importer of record is the party legally responsible for making sure the goods comply with customs law, classifying and valuing the merchandise, paying duties, and keeping records. Duties owed on an import are treated as a personal debt of the importer that can only be satisfied by payment in full.²

The consignee is just the party receiving the goods. It might be you, a warehouse, or a distribution center. A consignee can also be the importer of record, and in most personal shipments the same person fills both roles. But the obligation the carrier is chasing belongs to the importer of record specifically. If you are listed as consignee and someone else is the importer of record on the paperwork, the carrier needs to hear from that other party, not you.

What the Carrier Needs From You

For a formal entry, the broker typically needs several items before it can transmit anything to CBP. Missing any one of them keeps the hold in place.

Commercial Invoice

The commercial invoice is the backbone of the entry. Federal regulations require it to include the purchase price of every item in the currency of the transaction, a detailed description of the goods including the name and grade of each item, and the country of origin.³ CBP converts foreign currencies using published rates, so you don’t need to convert the values yourself. The more specific your product descriptions, the easier it is for the broker to match each line to the right tariff classification.

Customs Power of Attorney

Before the broker can file in your name, it must have a valid power of attorney on file from you.⁴ That document authorizes the broker to act as your legal agent for customs purposes. You’ll provide your legal name, address, and entity type, and an authorized person signs. For a business, that’s a company officer. For individuals, you sign it yourself.

Tax Identification Number

CBP identifies importers by tax ID. For businesses, that’s your Employer Identification Number. For individuals, it’s your Social Security Number.⁵ This number ties the import record to you for duty assessment and compliance.

HTS Code

Every product entering the U.S. is classified under a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule code, which determines the duty rate.⁶ The U.S. International Trade Commission publishes a free search tool where you can look up codes by product description.⁷ Getting the code wrong can mean overpaying, or underpaying and being penalized for misclassification. When classification is genuinely unclear, you can submit an electronic binding ruling request through CBP’s eRulings portal. CBP typically issues rulings within 30 calendar days, with complex cases referred to headquarters taking up to 90 days.⁸

Customs Bond

Any formal entry requires a customs bond, which guarantees the government you’ll pay duties, taxes, and fees. You have two options. A single entry bond covers one shipment, generally at or above the total entered value plus duties, taxes, and fees. A continuous bond covers all your imports for a year, calculated at 10% of the duties, taxes, and fees you paid over the previous 12 months, with a minimum of $100.⁹ Frequent importers almost always use the continuous version because it’s cheaper per shipment. Bonds are purchased through a surety company and filed with CBP on Form 301.¹⁰ If you don’t already have a bond, arranging one is often the first bottleneck to clear; brokers typically set it up for you, but they need your authorization and financial details to do it.

Shipments generally valued under $2,500 can go through an informal entry with lighter paperwork and no bond, and can sometimes be cleared on the spot at the port. That option is not available for goods subject to quotas, anti-dumping duties, or countervailing duties.¹¹ Anything commercial over $2,500, or any shipment regulated by another federal agency, requires the formal entry described above.¹²

Agency-Specific Data for Regulated Goods

Certain categories trigger requirements from partner agencies beyond CBP. Food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and biologics fall under FDA jurisdiction and require an FDA product code for each line item; the FDA offers an online Product Code Builder for this.¹³ USDA covers agricultural and certain animal products. EPA governs vehicles, engines, and chemical substances. ATF handles firearms and ammunition. If your goods fall into any of these categories, the carrier’s request will ask for additional permits, registrations, or product-specific data, and missing them can hold a shipment even after the basic entry is filed.

One boundary worth noting: every imported article must be marked in a visible location with the English name of the country where it was made, legibly and durably.¹⁴ Goods without proper marking can be detained until they’re re-marked at the port, on top of whatever else is holding them up.

How to Submit

Most major carriers provide a digital portal. The automated email that told you clearance instructions were required usually contains a secure link to a web form where you upload the commercial invoice, sign the power of attorney electronically, enter your tax ID, and provide the HTS codes. Some carriers also let you designate your own third-party customs broker instead of using their in-house team.

After you submit, the broker reviews everything for completeness before transmitting the entry to CBP. If anything is missing or inconsistent, expect a follow-up. Check your email after you submit; the difference between a routine hold and an expensive one is usually a few days of unanswered questions.

If you’re arranging a one-time clearance through someone acting on your behalf at the port, you’ll need to send the CBP port director a letter naming that person, along with shipment details and any invoices or bills of sale, and the agent must present valid identification at the port.¹¹

Ocean Freight: Check the ISF First

If your shipment is arriving by sea, an additional filing can trigger the clearance instructions hold before the vessel even arrives. The Importer Security Filing (often called ISF or “10+2”) requires eight data elements submitted at least 24 hours before cargo is loaded onto a U.S.-bound vessel, plus two more elements at least 24 hours before arrival. Required data includes seller, buyer, importer of record number, consignee number, manufacturer, country of origin, and HTS code for each commodity.¹⁵

CBP can assess $5,000 per violation for an inaccurate, incomplete, or late filing. Cargo without a filed ISF can be refused release, denied permission to unload, or seized, and non-compliant shipments can receive “do not load” orders at the port of origin.¹⁵ For ocean shipments showing this hold, the ISF is one of the first things to check.

Low-Value Shipments and 2025 Changes

Under the de minimis provision, goods imported by one person on one day with a total fair retail value at or below $800 can enter duty-free and without a formal entry filing.¹⁶ If your package looks like it qualifies but you’re still being asked for clearance instructions, common reasons are that the carrier doesn’t have enough information to confirm the shipment qualifies, the goods are subject to another agency’s regulations regardless of value, or the total exceeds the threshold once shipping costs are included.

The rules changed sharply in 2025. De minimis treatment was eliminated for products originating in China and Hong Kong effective May 2, 2025, under an executive order aimed at the synthetic opioid supply chain.¹⁷ Even low-value packages from Chinese sellers now require entry filings and duty payment. Legislation signed in July 2025 eliminates the $800 de minimis exemption entirely for all countries, effective July 1, 2027.¹⁶ If you regularly import low-value goods, the simplified path many people rely on is going away.

What Happens If You Ignore the Notice

Storage Fees Start at 15 Days

Merchandise that stays unentered for 15 calendar days from the date of importation is designated as general order merchandise.¹⁸ CBP moves the goods to a bonded warehouse, and daily storage charges begin. On top of storage, you may face demurrage from the port terminal if a container sat past its free time and separate detention charges from the carrier for use of their equipment. Owing fees to three different parties for one delayed shipment is a common outcome.

Six Months Means Auction

Goods that remain in customs custody for six months without all estimated duties and charges paid are legally treated as unclaimed and abandoned.¹⁹ The government can then sell the merchandise at public auction to recover unpaid duties and storage. Once the sale happens, the original importer loses all ownership rights, with no mechanism to reclaim the property.

Keep Your Records for Five Years

Clearing the shipment doesn’t end your obligations. Federal regulations require importers to retain all entry-related records for five years from the date of entry.²⁰ That covers the commercial invoice, power of attorney, entry summary, proof of duty payment, and correspondence with the broker or CBP. Records must be available for inspection if CBP asks for them within that window, and failing to produce them can bring penalties. Keep organized digital or physical copies of everything you submitted to resolve the hold.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1484 – Entry of Merchandise
2
eCFR. 19 CFR Part 141 – Entry of Merchandise
3
eCFR. 19 CFR 141.86 – Contents of Invoices and General Requirements
4
eCFR. 19 CFR 141.46 – Power of Attorney Retained by Customhouse Broker
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Importers – Why Is an Overseas Supplier Asking for My Social Security Number/Tax ID Number/IRS Number/Importer Number?
6
International Trade Administration. Harmonized System (HS) Codes
7
Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Harmonized Tariff Schedule
8
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Requirements for Electronic Ruling Requests
9
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Bonds – How Are Continuous and Single Entry Bond Amounts Determined?
10
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Customs Bond (CBP Form 301)
11
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Filing an Informal Entry for Goods That Are Less Than $2500 in Value
12
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. When Is a Customs Bond Required
13
FDA. Product Codes and Product Code Builder
14
eCFR. 19 CFR Part 134 – Country of Origin Marking
15
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1321 – Administrative Exemptions
17
Federal Register. Further Amendment to Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People’s Republic of China
18
eCFR. 19 CFR 127.1 – Merchandise Considered General Order Merchandise
19
eCFR. 19 CFR 127.11 – Unclaimed Merchandise
20
eCFR. 19 CFR 163.4 – Record Retention Period