CBP's Low-Value Shipments Proposed Rule: Bonds, a Final Deliver-To Party and Comments Due December 7

By Bernardo Campelo, Forbes Business Council E-Commerce Leader, Amazon SPN Certified provider, Amazon SP-API authorized partner, and Founder of PrepVia.

As of October 29, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Low-Value Shipments proposed rule is open for comment until December 7, 2026. Published on October 8 at 91 FR 64532, it would change how goods valued at $2,500 or less are entered: a customs bond on every informal entry, the entry filed by the time the goods arrive instead of up to 15 days later, and a new data element, the final deliver-to party, when that party is different from the ultimate consignee on the entry summary. It would also move mail to a new electronic entry type. None of it is in effect, and the proposal sets no effective date.

The proposal matters most to brands and cross-border sellers that send parcels into the United States, including parcels that stop at a 3PL or prep center first. Since de minimis was suspended in August 2025, those parcels go through customs entry, and at $2,500 or less CBP's general informal entry is type 11, where, according to CBP, many would-be de minimis shipments moved. Freight that clears as a formal entry, above $2,500, is not what this proposal rewrites.

Two other clocks sit next to it. Public Law 119-21 repeals the $800 de minimis exemption by statute on July 1, 2027. Executive Order 14411 of June 3, 2026 told the Department of Homeland Security to take steps to require a bond, or sufficient U.S. assets, on all formal and informal entries, and to bar foreign importers of record from filing informal entries. The bond is in this proposal; the bar on foreign importers is not.

Every date and name below was checked on October 29, 2026 against the Federal Register and its public inspection list, regulations.gov, CBP, reginfo.gov, govinfo and the U.S. Court of International Trade, linked where they first appear. This is a proposal, and the final rule can read differently, so check the docket before you act. It is general information, not customs or legal advice: ask your licensed customs broker or trade attorney how it applies to your entries.

What CBP Proposed on October 8

The proposal would amend 19 CFR Parts 113, 128, 141, 143 and 145 under docket USCBP-2026-0298 (RIN 1685-AA38). In CBP's words, it would "modify filing requirements for informal entries of goods valued at $2,500 or less" and "establish a new electronic informal entry type for merchandise entering through the mail environment."

For mail, CBP has run a voluntary type 13 test since September 22, 2026 (notice of June 24, 2026), and on October 22 it temporarily allowed type 13 entries without complete partner agency data. The same day it moved to January 20, 2027 the compliance date for formal entry of mail subject to partner agency requirements or Chapter 98 or 99 duties.

A Bond on Every Informal Entry

Under the proposal, "all entry type 11 and entry type 13 filers must obtain a basic importation and entry bond (either a single transaction bond (STB) or a continuous bond)," with the conditions in 19 CFR 113.62. The proposed text says these shipments "will not be released from CBP custody" until such a bond has been transmitted. When a broker files as importer of record for a consignee, it is the broker's bond that would be obligated.

Most type 11 entries already carry one. CBP counts about 2.3 million type 11 entries made without a bond from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026, about 3.31% of its projection for 2026, filed by 68,701 importers of record. A continuous bond would have been cheaper for 14% of those importers, who made 96% of the bondless entries, and single transaction bonds would have been cheaper for the other 86%.

That second group is where the cost lands. For the 59,148 importers that would use single transaction bonds, CBP estimates the bond cost at 72.66% of the duties, taxes and fees on their type 11 entries, with an average premium of $55.57 per entry, against $1.95 for continuous bond users. CBP describes a continuous bond as at least 10% of the prior year's duties, taxes and fees, with a $50,000 minimum, and says it could raise the single transaction bond floor, $100 today, to $1,000. The premiums are CBP estimates from broker websites.

The bond comes with a sharper penalty. For a breach of the bond on these entries, liquidated damages would be the value of the goods or $1,000, whichever is greater, and three times the value or $1,000 for restricted or prohibited goods and alcoholic beverages. Today the amount follows the value of the goods.

CBP's Strengthening Customs Enforcement page ties the bond to the June executive order: "In accordance with Executive Order 14411, CBP published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to amend the CBP regulations to require bonds for all informal entries." Section 4(c) of the order separately tells DHS to revise its mitigation standards, including "establishing a minimum liquidated damages floor," and the text of the proposal itself does not cite the order.

Entry by Arrival, Filed Electronically

Today an entry can be made within 15 calendar days after the goods land, under 19 CFR 141.5. The proposal would require a type 11 entry "upon or prior to the date of importation," which CBP's regulations define as the date of arrival within port limits with intent to unlade for vessel cargo, and the date of arrival in the customs territory for everything else. Type 13 mail entries would follow the same deadline, and both would have to be filed electronically.

In a CBP sample of 392,473 type 11 entries from September to November 2025, only 0.4% were filed before the day of arrival, 26.6% on the day of arrival and 25.0% the day after. CBP says a filer that reads "the package labeling of a shipment that has arrived in the United States" and then files would have to change that process, and that the filer "may need to employ more people abroad" to see the shipment before it leaves. CBP says that cost, which it could not quantify, "could be significant."

Release already depends on the entry: CBP says it is "conditioned partly on the entry being filed and partly on the merchandise's arrival." What the proposal removes is the window after arrival, so for a warehouse-based brand the invoice data and the classification would have to reach the broker by the time the parcel arrives, and CBP expects the delivery party to be requested with the rest of the entry data. CBP also discussed, without proposing them, keeping today's 15-day deadline or a stricter one, such as 24 hours before arrival.

Under the proposed text, the owner or purchaser can enter the goods, or a licensed customs broker designated by the owner, purchaser or consignee, and "A consignee that is not the owner or purchaser must appoint a customs broker to act as the importer of record for the entry." CBP's examples are a foreign postal operator, the U.S. Postal Service, a freight forwarder or a carrier; a 3PL that would make the entry itself as consignee, without owning the goods, could fall under the same words, though the proposal does not name 3PLs.

The Final Deliver-To Party and the Warehouse Question

CBP wants to identify the party to whom a good is "ultimately intended to be delivered, who may not be the initial recipient or the consignee taking custody of the good upon arrival." It proposes to require "data identifying the Final Deliver-To Party (including the party's address), if this party is distinct from the ultimate consignee identified on the entry summary (CBP Form 7501)," and defines that party as "the final intended recipient of the shipment, as known at the time of filing the entry summary."

The element appears in the preamble and in CBP's cost analysis; the proposed amendments to the regulatory text do not name it. CBP's paperwork section says new data elements would be submitted on the existing Entry and Entry Summary information collections.

So who is the ultimate consignee? The instructions to CBP Form 7501, February 2026 edition, say to record "the name and address of the individual or firm purchasing the merchandise or, if a consigned shipment, to whom the merchandise is consigned." If those are not known, the filer indicates to whose premises the goods are being shipped, and if the party is the importer of record, the field is left blank. For express consignment shipments, the same block asks instead for the party "for whose account the merchandise is shipped," which the instructions call "the actual owner, who is holder of title to the goods."

Read that against a brand that imports its own inventory and sends parcels to a 3PL it does not operate. If the brand is both importer of record and ultimate consignee, the 3PL could be the final intended recipient known at filing, and the entry could have to name it. The 3PL's premises go in that block only when the buyer or consignee is not known, and on an express parcel the block names the owner that holds title, so a brand shipping its own inventory is more likely to be in the first case. If the parcel was already sold to a consumer and only passes through a warehouse, the ultimate consignee and the final recipient may be the same buyer.

The proposal does not address 3PLs, so ask your broker, and consider raising it in a comment. The Form 5106 notice raises a related question: since September 18, 2026, under a notice published August 19, CBP says it will void an importer number with inaccurate or incomplete Form 5106 data, and the importer's physical address "cannot be a registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder, P.O. box, a business service center, or an address of another person or entity." The notice does not name 3PLs, and the form itself lists Warehouse as an address type. Our reading, not CBP's, is that a warehouse run by another company could count as another entity's address; our guide to the importer of record when a 3PL takes the container sets out the question to take to your broker.

"If your parcels stop at a warehouse you don't run, your importer address and the delivery address are two different places. Under CBP's proposal, the entry could have to show both."

Bernardo Campelo, Founder of PrepVia

What the Proposal Does Not Do

• It does not take effect yet. The proposal has no effective date. CBP's cost analysis counts costs "starting in 2027 when the rule would take effect," an assumption for the math, not a date in the rule, and a final rule can differ from the proposal.
• It does not bar foreign importers of record. The proposed text on who may file draws no line between U.S. and foreign importers. Section 2(b) of Executive Order 14411 told DHS to "prohibit a foreign IOR from filing informal entry," and a separate interim final rule, Heightened Requirements for Foreign Importers of Record, has been under review at the Office of Management and Budget since September 24, 2026, per reginfo.gov. Its text is not public.
• It does not rewrite formal entry. The changes are written for informal entries. The closest one is CBP's power to require formal entry by importer, manufacturer or category of goods, not only "on a case-by-case basis for a specific shipment of merchandise."
• It does not change how gifts are entered. Its new gift paragraph, 19 CFR 128.24(f) for express consignments, is meant, in CBP's words, "to make clear that there is no change to the procedures for entering bona-fide gifts."

July 1, 2027: The $800 Exemption Ends by Law

Section 70531(b) of Public Law 119-21, which CBP calls the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, carries the heading "Repeal of Commercial Shipment Exception." It strikes the clause of 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2) that reads "(C) $800 in any other case," along with the sentence that follows it, and says the amendments "shall take effect on July 1, 2027." The law was approved on July 4, 2025, and the statute keeps the separate exemptions for bona fide gifts of up to $100 and for travelers' personal articles of up to $200.

In practice, the door closed earlier. Duty-free de minimis has been suspended for all countries since August 29, 2025, under Executive Order 14324, which Executive Order 14388 continued on February 20, 2026, and CBP wrote the suspension into its regulations, effective June 24, 2026, with two interim final rules, one for mail and one for every other mode. CBP says its regulatory suspension "would remain in effect" if the executive order were amended or removed before the repeal, and that once the repeal is effective, "the effects of the de minimis suspension belong to the statutory change and not this rule."

The courts have ruled on the suspension, not on the statute. The Supreme Court's February 20, 2026 decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump held that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose additional tariffs, and CBP notes that the decision "did not address the suspension of the de minimis administrative exemption." On August 13, 2026, the U.S. Court of International Trade held in Axle of Dearborn v. Department of Commerce, a case brought by Detroit Axle, that "IEEPA authorizes the President's rescission of the de minimis exemption." The court deferred judgment on a separate claim in that case, on the IEEPA tariffs.

The court also quoted the House Budget Committee's report on the 2025 law: "By repealing the statute providing this exemption in 2027, the Committee is in no way modifying or undermining actions the President has already taken or may take in the future to restrict the availability of the [de minimis] exemption prior to the repeal date."

"The $800 door is already shut. On July 1, 2027 the law locks it, whatever happens in court."

Bernardo Campelo, Founder of PrepVia

For the operating side of life without de minimis, see Your First Q4 Without De Minimis and FBA Prep in China vs the US After De Minimis. We won't repeat that math here.

How to Comment Before December 7

Comments go through regulations.gov, docket USCBP-2026-0298. The proposal says comments "must be received on or before December 7, 2026," and the portal's own record closes the docket at 11:59 p.m. Eastern that day, with late comments not accepted. Every submission must include the agency name and the docket number, and CBP warns that comments "may be posted without change," including any personal information in them.

CBP asks for specific input: "the magnitude of the costs of the proposed earlier filing deadline" and the deadline's effect on shipping times by mode of transport. It also asks commenters to point to the specific portion of the rule, explain the reason for any change and "include data, information, or authority that supports the recommended change."

For a brand or 3PL that receives parcels, three points are worth raising with your broker, and possibly with CBP:

• The warehouse case. Whether inventory that goes to a 3PL before any sale should name the 3PL as final deliver-to party, and how a filer would know that at entry.
• Time before arrival. How long your data takes to reach the broker on air parcels, since almost every type 11 entry in CBP's sample was filed on or after the day of arrival.
• The bond for small importers. What a single transaction bond costs you per entry, against CBP's average estimate of $55.57.

Where a Prep Center Fits

Apart from the consignee rule above, the roles in an import stay the same under this proposal. The importer of record answers to CBP for the entry and is the party whose bond is obligated, a licensed customs broker usually files the entry for it, and the warehouse receives the goods once CBP releases them. What the proposal could add is the warehouse's name and address inside the entry data.

That makes two questions worth asking your 3PL or prep center now:

• What exact name and street address should appear as the delivery party? If your broker decides the warehouse is the final deliver-to party, the entry has to match the place the parcel actually goes.
• How fast does it report discrepancies? The entry is filed before the parcel is released to the warehouse, today and under the proposal, so a count that differs from the invoice has to reach you and your broker quickly.

At PrepVia, imported freight is received at 8507 NW 72nd St, Miami, FL 33166, and routed into Amazon FBA, with labeling, kitting and case pack along the way and Amazon partnered LTL and FTL out. Discrepancies are reported within 24 hours of arrival, with photos. PrepVia is Amazon SPN Certified, with a prep window of 24-36 hours, and our import page shows how imported freight is received in Miami.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CBP's low-value shipments proposed rule?

CBP published it on October 8, 2026, at 91 FR 64532, to change informal entries of goods valued at $2,500 or less. It would require a bond on every type 11 and type 13 entry, entry by the date of importation, electronic filing, a final deliver-to party when different from the ultimate consignee, and a new entry type 13 for mail.

When are comments due on the low-value shipments proposal?

On or before December 7, 2026, through regulations.gov under docket USCBP-2026-0298. The portal closes the docket at 11:59 p.m. Eastern that day and does not accept late comments.

What is the final deliver-to party?

CBP defines it as the final intended recipient of the shipment, as known when the entry summary is filed, and would require its name and address when it differs from the ultimate consignee on CBP Form 7501. CBP describes it in the preamble; the proposed regulatory text does not name it. Whether a 3PL would count depends on how the entry names the ultimate consignee, so ask your broker.

Does the proposal stop foreign importers of record from using informal entry?

No. Executive Order 14411 told DHS to bar foreign importers of record from informal entry, but this proposal does not do it. A separate interim final rule on foreign importers of record has been under review at OMB since September 24, 2026, and its text is not public.

Is the $800 de minimis exemption still available?

No. It has been suspended for all countries since August 29, 2025, CBP wrote the suspension into its regulations on June 24, 2026, and Public Law 119-21 repeals it on July 1, 2027. The gift exemption of up to $100 and the $200 exemption for travelers' articles remain.

Would every informal entry need a customs bond?

Under the proposal, yes: a basic importation and entry bond, single transaction or continuous, for every type 11 and type 13 entry. Most type 11 entries already carry one, and CBP estimates average premiums per newly bonded entry of $55.57 with single transaction bonds and $1.95 with continuous bonds.

Final Take

CBP's proposal would ask more of a low-value entry: a bond behind every entry, the data filed by arrival and, when the goods go somewhere other than the ultimate consignee, the name and address of where they end up. For a brand that ships parcels into a U.S. warehouse, the work moves upstream, because the invoice and the classification would have to reach the broker by the time the parcel arrives. Nothing is final, and December 7 is the date to put a view on the record.

Keep two other items in view: the interim final rule on foreign importers of record, under review at OMB with its text not public, and July 1, 2027, when the $800 exemption is repealed by law. Talk to your broker now about the bond, the deadline and the delivery party.