U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin voiding Importer of Record (IOR) numbers on September 18, 2026, if Form 5106 submissions contain incomplete or inaccurate information. A voided IOR number becomes invalid for entering merchandise into the United States. For Amazon sellers importing inventory—especially critical seasonal stock for Q4—this enforcement creates a hard deadline for compliance.
What’s Changing
- Enforcement date: September 18, 2026
- Impact: Voided IOR numbers will block all U.S. merchandise entry
- Trigger: Incomplete or inaccurate Form 5106 data
- Risk window: Holiday inventory shipments could be delayed or rejected if submitted with invalid IOR numbers
What Sellers Should Do Now
- Review your Form 5106 submissions for accuracy and completeness
- Verify your Importer of Record number status with your freight forwarder or customs broker
- If importing for Q4 2026, prioritize getting shipments into CBP’s system well before the deadline
- Double-check all required fields on Form 5106 to prevent voiding
How Squatio Helps
While this alert is about compliance rather than product research, sellers managing multi-SKU imports need visibility into their sourcing timelines and inventory planning to avoid being caught flat-footed by enforcement deadlines. Prospect (Product Database) helps you track which SKUs are in your pipeline and when they’re expected to arrive, so you can coordinate customs clearance and Form 5106 submissions well ahead of hard dates like this one. Planning inventory around compliance milestones keeps your cash flow moving and avoids the costly delays that come from last-minute remediation.
Have you had shipments delayed or rejected due to IOR number issues in the past? What processes do you use to verify your customs documentation before submitting to CBP?