U.S. Customs and Border Protection is proposing earlier electronic filings and a 15-day abandonment deadline for certain low-value mail shipments, changes that could affect goods mailed from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the mainland and Puerto Rico.
The proposal, published Oct. 8 in the Federal Register, covers qualifying merchandise valued at $2,500 or less. It remains open for public comment through Dec. 7, 2026, and has not taken effect as a final rule.
Existing U.S. Postal Service guidance says the Virgin Islands lies outside the customs territory of the United States and that customs requirements generally apply to goods mailed from the territory to the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The July 27 advisory addresses existing regulations; the October proposal does not separately spell out implementation for the territory or specifically announce new requirements for packages arriving in the Virgin Islands.
Under the proposal, eligible postal shipments would move to a fully electronic process called Entry Type 13. A party authorized to make customs entry would submit the necessary information through CBP's Automated Commercial Environment before or upon the date of importation. The system would replace the current informal postal-entry process, bringing required information to customs officials earlier.
The filings would identify the shipper or sender and address, along with the final delivery recipient when different from the ultimate consignee. Carriers would also have to provide a matching tracking number on the shipment manifest, allowing CBP to connect a parcel's arrival with its customs entry. Existing requirements already include applicable 10-digit tariff classifications and payment of any duties owed.
A covered mail shipment arriving without an entry would be held by CBP. If a proper entry remained unfiled and the package was still in CBP custody 15 days after importation, it would be deemed voluntarily abandoned. USPS would handle its disposition under postal procedures, which the notice says could include returning it to the sender or destroying it.
CBP also proposes requiring a customs bond for covered informal entries, including the new mail entries, to secure duties and compliance obligations. A single-transaction or continuous bond could be used. The agency's cost analysis notes that bonds are already required under the current informal postal process and therefore does not project additional bond costs from the Type 13 requirement itself.
Owners or purchasers could file their own entries electronically or use a licensed customs broker. A consignee who is neither the owner nor purchaser would generally have to appoint a broker to act as importer of record.
CBP nevertheless expects greater costs for postal-entry services. Its national analysis uses an estimated $30 increase in the average brokerage fee per entry, reflecting more data, earlier deadlines and individual filings. That is an analytical estimate, not a fixed USPS charge or a quoted price for Virgin Islands customers.
The $2,500 threshold concerns eligibility for informal entry and does not make merchandise duty-free. Some goods require other entry procedures, and CBP could require formal entry when necessary. The proposal also preserves existing procedures for qualifying bona fide gifts. USPS identifies a potential duty exemption for such gifts valued at up to $200 mailed from the Virgin Islands.
CBP says the changes would improve collection of duties already owed and give officers better information to identify illegal drugs, unsafe products and other prohibited merchandise. The rulemaking follows the suspension of the separate $800 de minimis exemption, which the agency says has been suspended since at least Aug. 29, 2025.
The issue has already prompted territorial advocacy. The Consortium reported in March that Governor Albert Bryan Jr. launched an effort to collect residents' and businesses' documentation of higher postal costs after the de minimis suspension, seeking evidence to support requests for federal relief. That campaign preceded the October proposal.
Comments on the proposed changes may be submitted through the federal rulemaking portal under docket USCBP-2026-0298. CBP is seeking views on the requirements and their economic effects, including alternatives that could reduce burdens on small entities. Submissions must be received by Dec. 7.
