Food Imports by Mail After De Minimis: What CBP’s Entry Type 13 Means for FDA and USDA Compliance

A photorealistic editorial-style image depicting an international mail package labeled with food import customs documentation arriving at a U.S. customs inspection station. The scene shows a sturdy cardboard shipping box with international postage markings sitting on a stainless steel inspection counter, surrounded by official-looking customs forms and compliance paperwork. In the background, blurred federal agency seals and a computer screen displaying a customs data entry interface suggest regulatory oversight. A customs officer's gloved hands are visible examining the package. Specialty food items such as glass jars of preserved goods, vacuum-sealed specialty products, and herbal supplement bottles are partially visible inside the open box. The lighting is cool and institutional, emphasizing the bureaucratic and regulatory nature of the scene. The overall tone is serious, procedural, and documentary in style, conveying the complexity of food import compliance and customs processing.

The suspension of de minimis duty exemptions for international mail has fundamentally changed how low-value food shipments enter the United States. Entry Type 13, launching as a voluntary ACE test on September 22, 2026, is the only informal entry pathway capable of carrying the full FDA and USDA Partner Government Agency data now required for mail shipments of food, dietary supplements, and other regulated products.

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Food Industry Regulatory Update September 20, 2024

In This Week’s Edition: Pasta Antidumping Duties The ITC has extended the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on certain pasta from Italy and Turkey on the basis that revocation of the duties would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable…

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Food Industry Regulatory Update September 13, 2024

In This Week’s Edition: FSIS Animal Raising Labeling Claims FSIS is announcing the availability of an updated version of its guideline on documentation needed to support animal-raising or environment-related claims on meat or poultry product labeling. Official establishments submit this documentation to the Agency when they apply for approval of labels with animal-raising or environment-related claims. The…

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Food Industry Regulatory Update August 23, 2024

In This Week’s Edition: Food Chemical Post Market Assessment FDA has posted materials for the public meeting on the Development of an Enhanced Systematic Process for FDA’s Post-Market Assessment of Chemicals in Food. The materials include the meeting agenda, information on how to submit comments, and the discussion paper on the development of an enhanced systematic process…

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Food Industry Regulatory Update July 26, 2024

In This Week’s Edition: Microplastics in Food; New FDA Webpage See FDA’s updated webpage for infromation on microplastics and nanoplastics in foods here. FDA Releases Summary Report on Fresh Herbs Sampling for Microbiological Hazards FDA released findings from a sampling assignment that collected and tested both domestic and imported fresh basil, cilantro, and parsley. The assignment sought to…

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Food Industry Regulatory Update July 19, 2024

In This Week’s Edition: FDA Bans Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil FDA is amending their regulations to revoke the authorization for the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in food. This action is being taken because there is no longer a reasonable certainty of no harm from the continued use of BVO in food. Specifically, the final rule revokes the…

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