CBP Form 300: Bonded Warehouse Proprietor's Annual Submission

Key Points

• CBP Form 300, Bonded Warehouse Proprietor's Submission, is the proprietor's annual reconciliation of the warehouse's recordkeeping system against the merchandise physically on hand.
• The obligation sits with the warehouse proprietor, not the importer or the broker, and flows from the bonded warehouse rules at 19 CFR Part 19 and the warehousing statute at 19 U.S.C. 1555.
• The recordkeeping and annual reconciliation requirements for a class of bonded warehouse are set out at 19 CFR 19.12; confirm the current filing deadline, format, and port submission channel there and with the port director before you file.
• Discrepancies surfaced by CBP Form 300 are the usual trigger for duty demands on missing merchandise, liquidated damages against the warehouse bond, and in serious cases suspension or revocation of the warehouse.
• As of October 2026, CBP Form 300 is a bonded warehouse document only; it is not the foreign trade zone annual report and it is not a narrative compliance self-assessment.

On this page

1. What CBP Form 300 is
2. At a glance
3. Where CBP Form 300 comes from in law and regulation
4. Who is responsible for CBP Form 300 and when it is due
5. What CBP Form 300 covers and how the reconciliation is built
6. How CBP Form 300 is submitted and reviewed
7. Common CBP Form 300 problems and what they cost
8. How CBP Form 300 interacts with other bonded warehouse paperwork
9. Frequently asked questions
10. What importers and brokers should do
11. Key references

CBP Form 300, Bonded Warehouse Proprietor's Submission, is the annual inventory reconciliation a bonded warehouse proprietor gives to CBP so the agency can compare the warehouse's books to the merchandise actually in the warehouse. The proprietor prepares and signs it, the port director's office reviews it, and it sits outside the individual entry lifecycle: it is a periodic account of an entire facility rather than a document tied to one shipment. The links in this article go to the primary documents, the statute and the regulations themselves. Read the source.

At a glance

• Full name: CBP Form 300, Bonded Warehouse Proprietor's Submission.
• Who prepares or uses it: the bonded warehouse proprietor, usually through its warehouse manager or compliance staff, reviewed by CBP at the port of the warehouse.
• When in the lifecycle: annually, outside any single entry, covering a full reporting period of warehouse activity; confirm the current due date at 19 CFR 19.12.
• System or channel: submitted to the port director; confirm with the port whether paper, email, or another channel is accepted today.
• Governing authority: 19 U.S.C. 1555 and 19 CFR Part 19, with the inventory control and recordkeeping requirements at 19 CFR 19.12.
• Related terms: CBP Form 6043 (Delivery Ticket), CBP Form 3499 (Application and Approval to Manipulate, Examine, Sample or Transfer Goods), CBP Form 5291 (Power of Attorney).
• Scope: bonded warehouses only; not a foreign trade zone filing.

Where CBP Form 300 comes from in law and regulation

CBP Form 300 exists because a bonded warehouse holds merchandise on which duty has not yet been paid, and the government needs an audited account of that merchandise. The statutory foundation is 19 U.S.C. 1555, which authorizes bonded warehouses and conditions them on compliance with the regulations the Secretary prescribes. Those regulations are 19 CFR Part 19, and the inventory control and recordkeeping system obligations that CBP Form 300 reports against are at 19 CFR 19.12.

The logic is simple. A proprietor must run a recordkeeping system capable of accounting for all merchandise in the warehouse at any time. CBP Form 300 is the point at which the proprietor certifies that the system worked: that what the records say is in the building is what is in the building, and that any difference is identified and explained.

Who is responsible for CBP Form 300 and when it is due

Responsibility for CBP Form 300 rests entirely with the bonded warehouse proprietor, the party whose name is on the warehouse bond and whose facility CBP approved. Importers who store goods in the warehouse and brokers who file the warehouse entries do not file CBP Form 300, although they will feel the consequences if the proprietor's account comes up short, because unaccounted merchandise generates duty demands and complicates withdrawal.

The submission is annual and covers a defined reporting period. Because the exact due date, the measurement date for the physical inventory, and any port-specific instructions can change, confirm them in the current text of 19 CFR 19.12 and with the port director's office rather than relying on last year's calendar entry. If the proprietor engages an outside firm or an agent to prepare the reconciliation, the authority for that agent to transact customs business in the proprietor's name is normally documented by a power of attorney, for which CBP Form 5291, Power of Attorney, is the optional CBP format for the written authority a principal gives a licensed customs broker or an employee.

What CBP Form 300 covers and how the reconciliation is built

CBP Form 300 reports the proprietor's reconciliation of recorded inventory against physical inventory for the bonded warehouse, together with the proprietor's identification of the warehouse and the period covered and the proprietor's certification of the result. Describe your numbers exactly as the current version of the form asks for them; CBP revises form layouts, so pull the live form from the CBP forms library rather than reusing a saved template.

Building the underlying count

Behind CBP Form 300 sits ordinary warehouse discipline. The proprietor takes a physical count of merchandise under CBP custody, reconciles it against the permit file or inventory control records, and investigates every variance before certifying. Receipts into the warehouse should trace back to the custody records the proprietor keeps, including CBP Form 6043, Delivery Ticket, the document that records delivery of merchandise into a bonded warehouse or container freight station under CBP supervision. Withdrawals should trace to the corresponding withdrawal entries and, where merchandise was repacked, sampled, or moved, to the approved permits.

Explaining variances

A reconciliation with no variance is rare in a busy warehouse. What CBP looks for in CBP Form 300 is not perfection but control: that every difference is quantified, attributed to a cause, and supported in the records. Shortages that cannot be explained are treated as merchandise that left CBP custody without duty payment.

How CBP Form 300 is submitted and reviewed

CBP Form 300 goes to CBP at the port where the bonded warehouse is located, and the review is performed by the port's warehouse officer or equivalent rather than by a national processing center. Submission channels for warehouse paperwork vary by port and have shifted toward electronic transmission in recent years, so confirm with the port director's office whether the current year's CBP Form 300 should be filed on paper, by email, or through another channel, and who at the port should receive it.

Review is not purely clerical. A reconciliation that shows material shortages, or that arrives late or incomplete, can prompt a site visit, a CBP-supervised count, or a broader compliance review of the warehouse's recordkeeping system under 19 CFR 19.12.

Common CBP Form 300 problems and what they cost

Most CBP Form 300 failures are bookkeeping failures that surfaced a year late. The recurring ones:

• Counting the building, not the custody status. Domestic or duty-paid goods stored in the same building are not part of the bonded account, and mixing them distorts the reconciliation in both directions.
• Unposted manipulations. Repacking, sorting, or sampling changes quantities and package counts. If the activity was permitted but never posted to the inventory records, the count will not tie.
• Missing custody documents. Receipts without a supporting delivery record, or withdrawals without a matching entry, leave variances that cannot be explained at year end.
• Late or unsigned submission. A CBP Form 300 that is not filed, or not certified by a responsible officer, is treated as a compliance failure in its own right.

The consequences run along two tracks. Unaccounted merchandise exposes the proprietor to duty liability and to liquidated damages under the warehouse bond. Persistent recordkeeping failures expose the warehouse itself, since CBP's authority to approve a bonded warehouse under 19 U.S.C. 1555 carries with it the authority to suspend or discontinue it.

How CBP Form 300 interacts with other bonded warehouse paperwork

CBP Form 300 is the annual summary of activity that other bonded warehouse forms document transaction by transaction, so the supporting paperwork determines whether the reconciliation ties. CBP Form 3499, Application and Approval to Manipulate, Examine, Sample or Transfer Goods, is the permit request for handling merchandise still under CBP custody in a bonded warehouse, container station, or before release, and each approved 3499 should correspond to a posted change in the inventory records. CBP Form 6043, Delivery Ticket, is the custody record for merchandise coming into the warehouse. For the identity and duty-liability side of the underlying entries, CBP Form 3347, Declaration of Owner for Merchandise Obtained Otherwise Than in Pursuance of a Purchase, and its companion 3347A, Declaration of Consignee When Entry Is Made by an Agent, transfer or confirm who owes the duties, which matters when a shortage generates a demand.

Two neighboring regimes are easy to confuse and are outside CBP Form 300 entirely. Temporary importation bond paperwork, including CBP Form 3173, Application for Extension of Bond for Temporary Importation, the request to extend the one-year TIB period in one-year increments up to three years total, and CBP Form 3495, Application for Exportation of Articles Under Special Bond, the notice filed before exporting TIB goods so the bond can be cancelled, governs goods admitted under a temporary importation bond, not warehoused goods. Arrival manifests such as CBP Form 1302, Inward Cargo Declaration, the vessel cargo manifest filed on arrival, CBP Form 7509, Air Cargo Manifest, and CBP Form 7533, Inward Cargo Manifest for Vessel Under Five Tons, Ferry, Train, Car, Vehicle, etc. along with CBP Form 3171, Application-Permit-Special License Unlading-Lading-Overtime Services, belong to the carrier at arrival, well before merchandise reaches a bonded warehouse.

Frequently asked questions

Is CBP Form 300 the same as a foreign trade zone annual report?

No. CBP Form 300 is a bonded warehouse document filed by the warehouse proprietor under the Part 19 warehouse rules. Foreign trade zone operators file their own annual reporting under the FTZ regime, and the two should never be substituted for one another.

Does an importer or broker ever file CBP Form 300?

No. CBP Form 300 is the proprietor's submission. An importer storing goods in the warehouse and the broker filing warehouse entries and withdrawals have no filing obligation, though they may be asked for records that help the proprietor reconcile a variance.

What happens if CBP Form 300 shows a shortage?

A shortage reported on CBP Form 300 generally means merchandise left CBP custody without the required entry and duty payment, which exposes the proprietor to a duty demand and to liquidated damages under the warehouse bond. Documenting the cause and correcting the recordkeeping weakness before filing is far better than letting CBP discover it.

Where do I get the current CBP Form 300?

Pull CBP Form 300 from the CBP forms library each year rather than reusing a saved copy, because the fields and instructions can be revised. Read it alongside the current text of 19 CFR 19.12 so the reconciliation you prepare matches what the form asks for.

What importers and brokers should do

• If you operate a bonded warehouse, calendar the CBP Form 300 cycle against the current text of 19 CFR 19.12 and confirm the submission channel with your port director's office before the period closes.
• Reconcile monthly, not annually: tie delivery records, approved CBP Form 3499 permits, and withdrawal entries to the inventory system as transactions happen, so CBP Form 300 is a report rather than an investigation.
• Document and quantify every variance with a cause and supporting records before certifying CBP Form 300, and escalate material shortages internally so the duty and bond exposure is understood.
• Check that any agent preparing warehouse filings on your behalf holds a current power of attorney, using CBP Form 5291 or an equivalent written authority.

Key references

• 19 U.S.C. 1555: the statute authorizing bonded warehouses and conditioning them on compliance with CBP regulations.
• 19 CFR Part 19: the customs warehouse regulations governing bonded warehouse operation.
• 19 CFR 19.12: inventory control and recordkeeping requirements for bonded warehouse proprietors, including the annual reconciliation.
• CBP forms library: the source for the current version of CBP Form 300 and related warehouse forms.