Shipment stuck at customs?
Read your CBP detention or hold notice — free.
Reads the CBP notice for the hold type and the deadline, then shows the general path from there. Background, not legal or customs advice.
A held shipment usually means one of a few things:
- CBP is examining the goods
- a partner agency has flagged them
- a document or a value is in question
- the goods are detained over a specific concern, such as forced labor
Each has a different cause and a different way out. What follows sorts the hold by what the notice says, then explains that path.
Read once, then discarded — the notice is not stored. How data is handled →
This is background about the hold and the general path, not legal or customs advice, and it does not promise a shipment will be released. A licensed customs broker or a customs attorney handles the response.
Reference · What a CBP hold or detention means
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When U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) holds a shipment, the goods are not released until the reason for the hold is resolved. A hold is not a single thing — it comes in several kinds, and each has its own process, evidence, and deadline. Identifying which kind a notice describes is the first step, because the wrong response wastes a short clock.
The common kinds of hold
- Forced labor (UFLPA). CBP is holding the goods as presumptively made with forced labor, because they trace to China’s Xinjiang region or a company on the UFLPA Entity List. The burden is on the importer and the clock is short; a licensed customs attorney leads the response.
- Partner-agency (PGA) hold. Another federal agency riding along with CBP — FDA, CPSC, FCC, USDA, or EPA — wants its compliance documentation before the goods proceed.
- Value or classification. CBP is questioning the declared value or the HTS classification of the entry.
- Documentation request (CF-28 / CF-29). A Request for Information (CF-28) or Notice of Action (CF-29), usually with a response date.
- ISF, intellectual property, or an exam. A late or inaccurate Importer Security Filing, a trademark or counterfeit concern, or a routine examination.
The general path from a notice
Read the notice to identify the hold type and the deadline, gather the records that hold’s process calls for, and bring them to the right professional — a licensed customs attorney for a forced-labor detention, or a licensed customs broker working with the agency named on the notice. The free customs-hold check above does the first step from the notice, and for a UFLPA hold it assembles a cited evidence checklist and a package to bring to a customs attorney.
Customs brokers and customs attorneys use it from the other side of the desk: when a client hands over a notice and a stack of documents, the tool reads the notice and organizes the cited evidence so the response starts from an assembled set rather than a pile. See what goes in a UFLPA detention response package.
Handling one of these for a client? How customs attorneys use this tool.
Common questions (6)
My shipment is held by CBP. What does that mean?
It means customs isn't releasing the goods yet. Holds come in several kinds: forced labor (UFLPA), a partner agency like FDA or CPSC, a question about value or classification, a request for documents, and more. Each has its own process and deadline. The free customs-hold check reads the notice, names the kind of hold and the deadline, and shows the usual path from there. It's background, not legal or customs advice.
What is a UFLPA (forced-labor) detention?
CBP is holding the shipment because the law presumes the goods were made with forced labor: they trace to China's Xinjiang region or to a company on the UFLPA Entity List. That presumption can be challenged, but the burden is on the importer and the time is short. A licensed customs attorney usually leads the response.
How long do I have to respond to a UFLPA detention?
CBP's guidance gives 30 days to respond to the detention notice, or to export or destroy the goods. You can ask for more time before the window closes, at most twice, up to 90 calendar days from the detention notice in all, and CBP decides whether to grant it. Say the notice is dated June 1: with both extensions, the outer limit is August 30. Check the date on your own notice, since it may already have passed. The customs-hold check works out the window from the notice date.
What is a CBP Withhold Release Order (WRO)?
It's a CBP order to detain a class of goods when CBP has reasonable suspicion they were made with forced labor. It's separate from the UFLPA Entity List: a WRO targets a class of goods, often from a named producer, while the Entity List names companies. Goods held under a WRO can be exported, destroyed, or shown not to be made with forced labor, with proof due within three months of the import date. That's evidence-heavy work, usually done with a licensed customs attorney.
I got a CF-28 or CF-29 from CBP. What is it?
A CF-28 (Request for Information) means customs has a question about your entry and wants documents. A CF-29 (Notice of Action) means customs is changing, or plans to change, something on the entry, like its value or classification, which can raise the duty. The first asks; the second acts. The date on the notice is the one that counts, and a CF-29 that raises duty moves fast: liquidation isn't held more than 20 days after it's mailed, unless there are compelling reasons (19 CFR 152.2). The customs-hold check recognizes both and shows the deadline. It's background, not legal or customs advice.
CF-28 or CF-29? Watch what each one asks for, and the 20-day clock on a CF-29 that raises duty, in 41 seconds.
The screen shown is the real, free customs-hold check, reached through its three-question path. Watch on YouTube →
Is the customs-hold check free?
Yes. It's free and needs no signup. It reads a CBP hold notice, names the hold type and the deadline, and shows the usual path. It's background, not legal or customs advice, and it can't promise a shipment will be released.