US Importer of Record services: what a service IOR structure is, and what it is not

A United States Importer of Record service is an arrangement in which a US company that holds the right to make entry is named as Importer of Record (IOR) on your shipments and carries the obligations that come with the name: the duties, the bond, the records, and the reasonable care standard. It exists because a large share of goods entering the United States are shipped by companies that cannot meet those obligations in their own name, or would rather not carry them from abroad. This post explains what the service is, what it is not, what the law requires of whoever holds the role, and the questions to ask before anyone’s name goes on your entries.

Nothing here is advice, and nothing here is a promise about duty, cost, or outcome. The service is a compliance structure. Whether it fits a given importer is fact specific.

What the service is

On every formal entry there is one Importer of Record. Under 19 U.S.C. §1484(a)(2)(B) that party is the owner or purchaser of the merchandise or, when appropriately designated, a licensed customs broker. The IOR is the party CBP looks to for the accuracy of the entry and for the duties owed on it. The definitions post gives the legal source for each term used here.

An IOR service places a United States company in that role for goods it did not make and does not sell. The service provider is named as Importer of Record on the entry, under a shipment-specific authorization from the company whose goods are moving. It files through a licensed customs broker, holds the customs bond in its own name, pays the duties from funds the client provides before entry, keeps the entry records for five years, and answers CBP’s questions about the entry.

The client remains the commercial buyer or seller of the goods. The supplier still invoices. The client’s customer still receives the shipment. What changes is the name on the entry and the party answerable for it.

What the service is not

It is not customs brokerage. A customs broker is licensed under 19 U.S.C. §1641 to transact customs business for others, which 19 C.F.R. §111.1 defines to include entry, classification, valuation, and the payment of duties on behalf of a client. The broker files. The Importer of Record is the party the broker files for. An IOR service provider that is not itself a licensed broker files every entry through one, and a broker that is not named as IOR does not carry the importer’s obligations.

It is not freight forwarding. A forwarder arranges transportation and prepares shipping documents under a commercial contract. It has no right to make entry unless it owns or purchased the goods, which it does not. Entries filed with a forwarder listed as importer rest on a financial interest that does not exist.

It is not a way around the rules. The Importer of Record still owes the duties at the rate the tariff schedule sets. Classification follows the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and valuation follows 19 U.S.C. §1401a, whoever holds the role. What the structure changes is who is answerable, and whether that party can meet the requirements CBP places on importers.

It is not a registration or a license. There is no CBP program that certifies IOR service providers. A provider is simply a United States importer that meets the ordinary requirements and holds the role for others. Those requirements are the whole test, which is why the questions below matter.

What the law requires of whoever holds the role

The requirements are the same for a service provider as for any importer, and a provider that cannot show them is not one.

• The right to make entry, as owner or purchaser or as a designated party under 19 U.S.C. §1484, read with CBP Directive 3530-002A on the financial interest that supports it. The right to make entry post covers the standard.
• An IOR number on a CBP Form 5106 that is its own. Since September 18, 2026 CBP voids the number of any importer whose Form 5106 lists a borrowed physical address, a broker’s or agent’s contact details, or a power of attorney not executed directly with the importer, under the August 19, 2026 Federal Register notice implementing Executive Order 14411. A provider’s Form 5106 must name the provider’s own office and people.
• A continuous customs bond in its own name, with the conditions in 19 C.F.R. §113.62.
• Residence in the United States. A provider incorporated outside the customs territory is a nonresident importer under 19 C.F.R. §141.18 and would need a resident agent and a resident surety bond, which defeats the purpose. A United States IOR service is, by definition, a United States company.
• Records kept for five years under 19 U.S.C. §1508 and 19 C.F.R. Part 163, and produced on request under 19 U.S.C. §1509.
• Reasonable care under 19 U.S.C. §1484(a)(1), exercised on each entry: the classification, the declared value, and the rate of duty. Penalties under 19 U.S.C. §1592 attach to the Importer of Record.

Executive Order 14411 directs more: minimum tangible domestic assets or bonding, a good standing requirement with increased vetting, and heightened formal entry requirements for foreign entities. As of October 9, 2026 those remain in rulemaking with no effective date. The tracker page carries the current position of each. When they land, they land on service providers first, because a provider holds the role on many entries at once.

Who the service is for

Four situations account for most of the demand, and the breakdown by situation covers each in detail.

• Foreign manufacturers selling into the United States on terms that leave them responsible for clearance.
• Overseas ecommerce sellers holding inventory in US fulfillment networks with no US entity of their own.
• Nonresident importers that hold the role today through a resident agent and would rather not carry the Form 5106 and bonding exposure from abroad.
• United States companies whose overseas supplier acts as Importer of Record under delivered duty paid terms, and who want the entry, the valuation, and the records under a party they can see.

Questions to ask any provider

The answers decide whether a provider can lawfully hold the role, and they are all matters of fact that a serious provider will answer in writing.

1. On what basis does the provider hold the right to make entry for my goods, and what does the shipment authorization say about ownership and the commercial parties?
2. Whose physical address, email, and phone appear on the provider’s Form 5106, and when was it last updated?
3. Is the bond continuous, who is the surety, and does the provider hold it in its own name?
4. Which licensed customs broker files, under what power of attorney, and can my existing broker remain the filer?
5. How are duties funded before entry, and what happens if an entry is liquidated with additional duties due?
6. Who keeps the entry records, where, and how are CF-28 requests for information and CF-29 notices of action handled?
7. What does the provider need from me to meet reasonable care on classification and valuation, and what will it refuse to file?

A provider that answers all seven plainly is holding the role properly. One that answers with assurances about cost instead is not answering the question.

Sources

• 19 U.S.C. §1484, entry of merchandise
• 19 U.S.C. §1641, customs brokers
• 19 U.S.C. §1508, recordkeeping
• 19 U.S.C. §1509, examination of books and witnesses
• 19 U.S.C. §1592, penalties
• 19 U.S.C. §1401a, value
• 19 C.F.R. §111.1, definitions, customs business
• 19 C.F.R. §113.62, basic importation and entry bond conditions
• 19 C.F.R. §141.18, entry by nonresident corporation
• CBP Directive 3530-002A, Right to Make Entry
• CBP, Accuracy of Importer of Record Data Submitted to CBP, Federal Register, August 19, 2026
• Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement, 91 FR 35125, June 10, 2026