Automated Broker Interface (ABI)

Definition

The Automated Broker Interface, or ABI, is the electronic channel that licensed customs brokers and importers use to send U.S. import paperwork to Customs and Border Protection, the agency known as CBP.

The easiest way to picture it is a pipe. You put your import data into ABI, and it travels down the pipe into a bigger CBP system called ACE, which reads your data, checks it, and stores it.

Almost every shipment that comes into the United States is filed this way. CBP says over 96% of all import entries go through ABI, which is why anyone importing into the country runs into it sooner or later.

What it contains

An ABI filing carries the information CBP needs to let your goods in and work out what you owe. It is built from a few main pieces:

1. The cargo release request – This asks Customs to free the shipment so it can move.

2. The entry summary – This reports what the goods are and how much duty is due on them.

3. A message to another agency, if needed – Goods that another regulator watches, like food checked by the FDA or plants checked by the USDA, carry an extra message meant for that agency.

4. The payment – Duties and taxes are pulled straight from a bank account.

To build a filing, the person filing has to supply a set of specific details:

1. The filer's own code and the entry number

2. The importer's identification number

3. The port where the goods arrive and the date they arrive

4. Shipping and carrier details

5. The product's tariff classification code

6. The quantity and value of the goods

7. The country where the goods were made and who made them

8. The duty, tax, and fee amounts expected

Where it's used

ABI only applies to goods coming into the United States, so it shows up for any company that imports.

The people who actually touch it are:

1. Licensed customs brokers – who file on behalf of importers.

2. Importers – who file for themselves, once they are set up to do so.

3. Service companies – who provide the software and the connection to CBP for brokers or importers who use them.

Inside a manufacturer or a logistics company, this usually lands on the operations team or the trade-compliance team, or on an outside broker they hire to handle customs.

It happens at the clearance stage, right when goods are arriving. The data can be sent before the ship or plane even lands, so a shipment can be cleared for release the moment it touches U.S. soil.

How it's used

Before anyone can file, they have to get set up with CBP.

Getting set up

The filer sends CBP a letter saying they intend to file. CBP assigns a three-letter filer code and a CBP contact who helps set up the connection. The filer's software has to be one CBP has approved, and it has to pass a connection test before it can be used for real filings.

Filing a shipment

The filer takes the shipment's commercial invoice, packing list, and bill of lading, and reads off the numbers needed: the tariff code, the values, the country where the goods were made. Those numbers go into the customs software, and the filing is sent through ABI.

CBP's system checks the filing and sends back either an acceptance or a list of errors to fix. CBP decides whether to release the goods, hold them, or inspect them.

After release, the filer confirms the entry summary and pays the duty, often bundling a full month of shipments into one payment instead of paying each one separately.

Example

A customs broker is bringing in a shipment of 500 car parts for a factory. Two days before the ship docks, she sends the entry through ABI.

CBP's system checks it overnight and sends back a release. When the ship lands, the parts move straight toward the factory instead of waiting three or four days at the port. Later that week, she confirms the entry summary and pays the duty on her monthly statement.

Now change one detail. If that shipment had been frozen food instead of car parts, the filing would also carry a message to the FDA, and the parts would not move until the FDA sent back its own approval.

What an ABI entry looks like

Types

ABI itself is one single system, so it does not come in different types. What changes is the kind of entry sent through it. CBP gives each kind a number, and the number tells Customs how to treat the shipment.

Type 01, consumption

This is the standard entry for goods entering the country to be sold or used. Most routine commercial shipments are Type 01. A company importing furniture to sell in stores would almost always file this type.

Type 03, antidumping or countervailing duty

Some goods carry extra duties because a foreign government subsidized them unfairly, or because a company sold them below cost. Those goods are filed as Type 03, which tells Customs to charge the extra trade duties on top of the normal ones. A broker importing steel under a trade order would file this instead of a plain Type 01.

Type 06, foreign trade zone

A foreign trade zone is a special area where goods can sit without duty being charged yet. When a company pulls goods out of that zone to actually use them, it files a Type 06, so duty is paid only on what leaves the zone. Manufacturers who store parts duty-free and pull them as needed use this type.

Type 11, informal

Smaller or lower-value shipments use the informal entry, which carries lighter paperwork than a full formal entry. A small business importing a modest sample order would likely file this type.

Type 21, warehouse

Goods can be entered into a bonded warehouse and held there before any duty is paid. This is a Type 21, and it lets an importer delay the duty until the goods actually leave the warehouse to be sold. Companies that want to hold stock without paying duty up front use it.

Type 23, temporary importation bond

Some goods come in only for a while, such as equipment for a trade show or samples that will leave again. A Type 23 lets them enter without paying the usual duty, on the promise that they will be exported. The importer posts a bond as that promise.

Variations

Broker filed vs. Filing it yourself

Most importers hire a licensed customs broker to file for them, because customs rules are detailed and mistakes cost money. Larger importers who ship often sometimes get their own filer code and file for themselves instead. Either way, the importer stays legally responsible for the accuracy of the data, even when a broker is the one who typed it in. Note: some sources state that only brokers can file through ABI, but CBP's regulations and several software vendors confirm that importers can file for themselves too, with their own filer code and a customs bond.

ABI vs. ACE

These two get mixed up often. ABI is the channel data is sent through. ACE is the CBP system that receives it, checks it, and keeps the official record. A filing is sent by way of ABI, but the record itself lives in ACE.

Electronic vs. Paper

Almost everything is filed electronically today, but a small share of entries are still filed on paper. Paper entries are accepted, but they cannot use certain electronic features, such as paying a full month of duties in one transaction, so they take more manual handling. For a typical commercial importer, electronic filing through ABI is the standard path.

Different ABI software providers

No single company runs ABI. CBP publishes a public list of the software companies it has tested and approved to connect to ABI, and brokers and importers choose from among them.

As of August 2026, that list includes around 30 approved companies, among them Customs Now, KlearNow, Freightgate, Log-Net, and OpenTrack. Some, such as CargoWise and Descartes, build ABI filing into a larger platform that also handles freight and logistics management, while others focus on customs filing alone. CBP being on the list is not an endorsement of quality.

It only means the company's software passed CBP's connection test for one or more ABI functions, such as entry filing, in-bond movements, or drawback claims. Brokers and importers still need to compare providers on cost, support, and which specific ABI functions each one covers, since not every approved vendor supports every function.

FAQs