Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published Federal Register notice 2026-16911 announcing a compliance audit beginning September 18, 2026. CBP will review Form 5106 filings for every Importer of Record (IOR) and void any IOR numbers with inaccurate information. A voided number cannot be used to import goods—a critical operational disruption for any seller with overseas inventory.
What CBP Will Check
CBP’s audit focuses on four specific data points on your Form 5106:
- Physical Address — Must be a genuine business or home address. Cannot be a registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder, P.O. box, business service center, or another entity’s address.
- Email Address — Must belong directly to the IOR (the importer/seller). Brokers cannot list their own email.
- Phone Number — Must belong directly to the IOR. Same rule as email.
- Power of Attorney — If a customs broker filed your Form 5106, they must have a valid, direct POA executed between you and them.
Action Items for Sellers
- Contact your customs broker immediately and request a copy of your Form 5106 on file.
- Review all four fields above against your actual business information.
- If any details are incorrect or outdated, work with your broker to file a correction or reinstatement request before September 18.
- Be aware that CBP has not announced a timeline for reinstatement approvals, so early action is important.
How Squatio helps
While compliance and customs documentation fall outside Squatio’s direct toolset, sellers who use Prospect (Product Database) to source inventory from overseas suppliers should treat this alert as a critical operational dependency check. Any disruption to your IOR status blocks the entire import chain. Before scaling sourcing volume or committing to large overseas orders, verify your import infrastructure—including Form 5106 accuracy—is solid. Sellers new to overseas sourcing should use Prospect to validate supplier viability and lead times in parallel with confirming their CBP registration is bulletproof.
If you’ve already had an IOR number voided or had to file a reinstatement, how long did CBP take to respond? That timeline would help other sellers plan ahead.