Who is the importer of record on your Amazon FBA inventory?

You are — or whichever entity your broker names in the importer of record (IOR) field on the entry. Amazon states it will not act as importer of record for goods shipped into FBA, and shipments that name Amazon as IOR are refused and returned at the shipper's expense. Amazon can appear only as the ultimate consignee, and only in the "in care of" format, with your broker contacting Amazon for the tax ID needed to clear the shipment (Amazon Global Selling).

That leaves a question most marketplace brands have never answered on paper: whose IOR number is actually on the CBP Form 7501? Starting January 5, 2027, that answer carries new clearance consequences. CBP's interim final rule, Heightened Requirements for Foreign Importers of Record, requires a non-validated foreign IOR to make entry through a CTPAT-validated licensed customs broker, and puts a U.S.-IOR declaration on every entry and entry summary (91 FR 69977). It also matters for money: the IOR is the party that paid the duty, and therefore the party CBP looks to when duties come back.

Amazon's position applies to FBA shipments of any value, from any country. If the commercial invoice or entry names Amazon as importer of record, the shipment is refused and returned at the shipper's cost, which for a brand launching a new SKU usually means a missed season, not just a freight bill (Trade Risk Guaranty).

The accepted format is to name the Amazon fulfillment entity as ultimate consignee preceded by "in care of," with the seller or another qualifying party as IOR. Your broker should contact Amazon before the goods ship to obtain the tax ID used for clearance, rather than discovering it is missing at the port.

Ultimate consignee and importer of record are not the same role. Ultimate consignee is where the goods are going; IOR is the party legally responsible for the entry, the duties and the recordkeeping.

CBP published the rule in the Federal Register on November 6, 2026, with an effective date of January 5, 2027 and comments also due January 5, 2027. It follows Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement, signed June 3, 2026, which directed DHS to revise importer eligibility regulations under 19 U.S.C. 66, 1484, 1498, 1623, 1624 and 4320 (Federal Register).

The rule creates formal definitions of a U.S. IOR and a foreign IOR, adds a U.S.-IOR declaration to CBP Forms 3461 and 7501, imposes verification and recordkeeping duties on brokers, and exposes inaccurate filings to penalties under 19 U.S.C. 1592 (EY Tax News).

Under new 19 CFR 141.21, a CTPAT-validated foreign IOR may file its own entries or use any licensed broker. A foreign IOR that is not CTPAT-validated must designate a CTPAT-validated licensed customs broker — so "my broker is licensed" no longer answers the question. The rule's preamble also discusses broker compliance timing; read the DATES and compliance-date paragraphs of the rule itself before you build a calendar around any secondhand summary.

Separately, CBP's Accuracy of Importer of Record Data notice lets the agency immediately void an IOR number and pursue enforcement where CBP Form 5106 data is inaccurate or incomplete. Stale addresses and dead officer names are now a live risk, not a clerical one.

The new definitions in Part 110 turn on substance, not just where you incorporated. CBP looks at factors such as whether the importer has a real U.S. place of business, unencumbered U.S. assets and adequate capitalization. Secondary summaries circulating since publication cite specific beneficial-ownership and asset thresholds; confirm those against the rule text before you rely on a number.

The brands most likely to be surprised are U.S. LLCs with foreign parents or foreign founders, and sellers who set up a thin U.S. entity purely to hold an IOR number. If the entity has no U.S. staff, no U.S. bank balance and no U.S. premises, do not assume it clears the U.S.-IOR bar just because it has an EIN.

Duty refunds follow the party that paid. For direct-identification unused merchandise drawback under 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(1), 19 CFR 190.33(a) gives the right to claim to the exporter or destroyer; anyone else claiming must hold a signed waiver certification from the exporter. For substitution drawback under 1313(j)(2), where the exporter is also the importer of the imported merchandise, that party is entitled to claim — which is why being both IOR and exporter of record is the cleanest structure a brand can have.

19 CFR 190.82 says the same thing from the other direction: the exporter or destroyer claims unless it waives and assigns the right to the manufacturer, producer, importer or intermediate party by certification, which can be a blanket certification covering a stated period. Those waivers are ordinary paperwork — but they have to exist, in writing, before you file.

This matters beyond drawback. Post-summary corrections, protests and refunds of tariffs later found unlawful all run to the IOR of record. If your supplier's name is in that box, the refund conversation starts with them. The new rule does not change drawback eligibility; it simply forces thousands of brands to fix the IOR field that drawback ownership already depended on.

If inventory later leaves the United States — export sales, cross-border 3PL moves, destroyed returns — you need to connect Amazon shipment and removal data back to the entry summary that paid the duty. In practice that means matching inbound shipment IDs and SKUs to the HTSUS lines on the 7501, then to the outbound record.

19 CFR 190.72(a) requires six export data elements on every claim: date of export, name of the exporter, description of the goods, quantity and unit of measure, Schedule B or HTSUS number, and country of ultimate destination. Subsection (b) accepts carrier records kept in the normal course of business, and official postal records for mail exports — useful for DTC parcel volume. Our guide to proof of export for duty drawback walks through what holds up.

One more thing worth saying plainly: shipping small parcels is not an escape hatch. Duty-free de minimis has been suspended for all countries since August 29, 2025, and the February 20, 2026 Supreme Court IEEPA decision did not restore it (Supply Chain Dive).

Start with evidence, not assumptions. Pull your last twelve months of CBP Form 7501 entry summaries and confirm the IOR number on each one is yours — many brands find a forwarder's or supplier's number on entries they thought they owned.

Then confirm your CBP Form 5106 data is current, since CBP can now void an IOR number for inaccurate or incomplete information. Ask your customs broker directly whether it is CTPAT-validated, and if you may be a foreign IOR, ask what filing path it will support after January 5. Where you are not both the IOR and the exporter of record, get waiver certifications in writing now; blanket certifications covering a stated period are permitted.

Finally, line up the refund side while you are already in the records. If your entries show recoverable duty on goods that were later exported or destroyed, duty drawback is where that money lives, and Evana can tell you what your entry data supports before you change anything.