A held shipment usually means one of three things: CBP is examining the goods, a partner agency such as CPSC has flagged them for review, or the goods are detained over a specific concern like forced labor. Each has a different cause and a different way out.
CBP examination. After goods are presented for examination, CBP decides within five business days whether to release them or hold them. A shipment not released in that window is treated as detained under U.S. customs law.
A partner-agency hold. Agencies like CPSC ride along with CBP through what is called a Partner Government Agency (PGA) message set. A CPSC "Hold Intact" means the agency has asked for the goods to be kept whole and unaltered until it decides they can proceed.
A detention over a specific concern. Some holds are about where goods came from or how they were made — most notably forced-labor detentions under U.S. law, which follow their own process.
CBP has five business days from presentation to release or detain. Once goods are detained, if CBP has not made a final admissibility decision within 30 days of presentation, the goods are generally treated as excluded — a decision the importer can formally challenge. Timelines run differently for forced-labor detentions.
The importer of record is the party CBP notifies. The response usually runs through the importer's customs broker, or a customs attorney where the hold turns on a legal question such as forced labor. The reason stated on the notice is what tells you which path applies — a certificate issue, a marking issue, or an origin concern are three different problems.
The free Detention Decoder reads the CBP notice, identifies the type of hold and the response deadline, and shows the path for that type — a CPSC certificate issue, a partner-agency hold, a forced-labor detention, an exam, and more. Nothing is stored.
Open the free Detention Decoder →The rules on this page do change — an eFiling date, a list, a threshold. Leave an email and a short note goes out if one does: a few a year at most, one click to stop, and the address is used for nothing else. A summary of the guide and a link arrive now, as confirmation.
Information current as of 2026-09-21.
This report is an automated, informational screening tool only. Tiana & Co. is not a licensed customs broker and does not conduct customs business. This report does not constitute legal advice, a compliance determination, or a certification of admissibility for any supplier, product, or shipment.
Verdicts in this report are produced by deterministic code, not by a language model. The explanatory paragraph accompanying each check is model-generated and checked against the cited sources before delivery. No part of this report is reviewed by a person before it is issued, so every material finding and citation should be confirmed against the underlying government source before it is relied on.
This report reflects data available as of the report date. The OFAC SDN and Consolidated lists, the other U.S. Consolidated Screening List constituents, the UFLPA Entity List, CBP withhold release orders, CPSC's eFiling list, and regulatory guidance are updated frequently and without prior notice. Users should re-screen periodically and consult qualified counsel for compliance decisions.
Name-similarity results do not establish or rule out the identity of any company. Where multiple similarly named records exist, none should be treated as confirmed without independent verification against the primary government source.
This tool is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or any other government agency. No warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of any finding.
Use of this report for import, procurement, sanctions-compliance, or investment decisions is at the user's own risk. Anyone with compliance obligations under UFLPA, OFAC, or CPSC regulations should consult qualified legal counsel before making a transactional decision.
This report is an automated, informational screening tool only. Tiana & Co. is not a licensed customs broker and does not conduct customs business. This report does not constitute legal advice, a compliance determination, or a certification of admissibility for any supplier, product, or shipment.
Verdicts in this report are produced by deterministic code, not by a language model. The explanatory paragraph accompanying each check is model-generated and checked against the cited sources before delivery. No part of this report is reviewed by a person before it is issued, so every material finding and citation should be confirmed against the underlying government source before it is relied on.
This report reflects data available as of the report date. The OFAC SDN and Consolidated lists, the other U.S. Consolidated Screening List constituents, the UFLPA Entity List, CBP withhold release orders, CPSC's eFiling list, and regulatory guidance are updated frequently and without prior notice. Users should re-screen periodically and consult qualified counsel for compliance decisions.
Name-similarity results do not establish or rule out the identity of any company. Where multiple similarly named records exist, none should be treated as confirmed without independent verification against the primary government source.
This tool is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or any other government agency. No warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of any finding.
Use of this report for import, procurement, sanctions-compliance, or investment decisions is at the user's own risk. Anyone with compliance obligations under UFLPA, OFAC, or CPSC regulations should consult qualified legal counsel before making a transactional decision.