CBP Moves to Expand ACE Mail Entry Test, Supply Chain Identifier Data

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued three related Paperwork Reduction Act notices scheduled for publication July 1, seeking comments on revised information collections for cargo manifests, entry summaries, and ACE cargo release.

The notices are procedural, but they point to a broader enforcement and automation shift:

CBP is building out a voluntary electronic “Entry Type 13” process in ACE for informal mail shipments valued at $2,500 or less, while also expanding the data architecture used to identify parties in the supply chain.

Comments are due 60 days after publication and must reference the applicable OMB control number in the subject line. CBP said comments should be submitted to CBP_PRA@cbp.dhs.gov. 

The proposed Entry Type 13 test would allow filers to transmit informal mail entries electronically for qualified mail shipments. CBP says the process would provide an alternative to the interim informal mail-entry process under 19 CFR 145.12(b) and would create a route for low-value mail shipments that carry Partner Government Agency data requirements or duties outside ordinary HTSUS Chapters 1–97 rates—shipments that are not eligible for the interim mail process. 

The test would be open to owners and purchasers of merchandise mailed to the United States, licensed customs brokers acting as importer of record, and mail carriers. Entry Type 13 filings would require 12 data elements: filer code, IOR number, merchandise description, country of origin, 10-digit HTSUS classification, quantity and weight where needed for specific duties, duty rate, value, total duty owed, carrier name, foreign-post tracking number, and arrival port. 

CBP’s manifest notice ties the same initiative to carrier reporting. The agency says carriers participating in the test would report the foreign postal operator’s tracking number for each arriving mail shipment as part of the manifest filing. CBP says matching that tracking number to the entry filing would allow it to determine the precise arrival time for each shipment and confirm that an entry was filed on time. 

The ACE Cargo Release notice also highlights recently approved changes to the Global Business Identifier test. CBP says GBI participation remains voluntary, but the agency is expanding eligible party types beyond manufacturer, shipper, seller, exporter, distributor and packager to add “intermediary” and “source.” CBP also says it will allow trade participants to submit one or more identifiers—LEI, GLN or DUNS—rather than all three, and will add the Altana ID as a new identifier option as it evaluates supply-chain traceability data for risk management and facilitation. 

The same ACE Cargo Release notice says CBP has added new data elements tied to Russian sanctions under Executive Order 14114 and updated Form 3461/3461 ALT instructions to include those Russian sanctions data elements and related text fields. 

Compliance significance: the notices do not impose a final new mandate, but they show CBP moving low-value mail, postal tracking, PGA data, sanctions-related fields and supply-chain entity identifiers deeper into ACE.

Brokers, carriers and importers handling mail, e-commerce, PGA-regulated goods, Russia-sensitive goods or traceability programs should review whether their systems can capture the new Entry Type 13 and identifier fields before the test becomes operationally significant.

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