As part of CBP’s efforts to comply with the “Strengthening Customs Enforcement” Executive Order, Importer of Record (IOR) numbers in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) may be deactivated if they have not been used to file an entry for one or more years and have no outstanding post-entry transactions. Effective July 16, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) implemented a new “Inactive for Entry Purposes” status for IORs in the ACE Production environment.
Under this update, CBP may automatically deactivate IOR accounts that have not filed an entry within the past 366 days, consistent with 19 CFR 24.5(e). Once an IOR is placed in this status, it will no longer be eligible to transmit ACE Cargo Release or ACE Entry Summary transactions. However, this status will not affect other non-entry related ACE functions, including acting as a consignee, filing drawback claims or reconciliations, securing bonds, transmitting Importer Security Filing information, or completing other ACE business activities.
Infrequent importers should contact their customs broker before arranging Customs clearance to allow time for reactivation, if needed.