CBP Form 4455: Certificate of Registration for Goods Exported

Key Points

• CBP Form 4455, Certificate of Registration, is completed before export and presented with the goods so CBP can verify serial numbers and marks that later prove the returning articles are the same articles.
• The validated copy supports duty-free or reduced-duty claims at re-entry under HTSUS 9801.00.10 (U.S. goods returned) and HTSUS 9802.00.40 or 9802.00.50 (articles returned after repair or alteration).
• CBP treats CBP Form 4455 as recommended pre-export evidence of identity, not a mandated entry document, so the absence of one does not bar a claim but does make proving identity much harder.
• The current version of the form is CBP Form 4455 (rev 2025-06-17); records supporting the claim fall under the five year retention rule in 19 CFR 163.4.
• CBP Form 4455 is not an ATA carnet, not a temporary importation under bond, and not a substitute for CBP Form 3311.

On this page

1. What CBP Form 4455 is
2. At a glance
3. When is CBP Form 4455 used in the entry lifecycle?
4. Who is responsible for CBP Form 4455?
5. How does CBP Form 4455 support 9801 and 9802 claims?
6. Common CBP Form 4455 errors and what they cost
7. How CBP Form 4455 relates to other CBP forms
8. Frequently asked questions
9. What importers and brokers should do
10. Key references

The links in this article go to the primary documents: the regulations, the official tariff schedule pages, and the CBP form pages themselves. Read the source. The guidance below is current as of September 2026, and you should confirm the current form revision and regulatory text before relying on it.

CBP Form 4455, Certificate of Registration, is the document an exporter or importer uses to register identifiable goods with CBP before those goods leave the United States, so that their identity can be proven when they come back. CBP Form 4455 records serial numbers, model numbers, and other distinguishing marks, and a CBP officer validates the form after examining the articles. At re-entry, the validated copy is produced with the declaration under HTSUS 9801.00.10 or HTSUS 9802.00.40/.50 to show the returning articles are the same articles that were exported.

At a glance

• Full name: CBP Form 4455, Certificate of Registration (rev 2025-06-17).
• Who prepares or uses it: the exporter or importer of the goods, often with the customs broker; validated by a CBP officer.
• When in the lifecycle: before export, with the goods available for CBP examination; produced again at re-entry.
• System or channel: paper form presented to CBP at the port or facility; confirm local presentation procedure with the port.
• Governing authority: CBP; the returned goods provisions at 19 CFR 10.1 and the repair and alteration provisions at 19 CFR 10.8.
• Tariff provisions supported: HTSUS 9801.00.10, HTSUS 9802.00.40, HTSUS 9802.00.50.
• Record retention: five years under 19 CFR 163.4.
• Related terms: CBP Form 3311, CBP Form 7553, CBP Form 7551, CBP Form 7552.

When is CBP Form 4455 used in the entry lifecycle?

CBP Form 4455 is used before export, which is what distinguishes it from nearly every other form in a broker's file. The sequence is simple: the goods are identified and listed on CBP Form 4455, the form and the goods are presented to CBP for validation, the validated copy is retained with the export records, and the same copy is produced at re-entry with the Chapter 98 declaration.

In practice, CBP Form 4455 belongs to a narrow set of shipments: equipment going abroad for warranty service, instruments leaving for calibration or repair, tooling shipped to a foreign plant and coming back, demonstration units and trade show samples of U.S. origin, and returned merchandise authorizations where the article will come back in the same or a repaired condition. Brokers should ask for CBP Form 4455 whenever a commercial invoice says warranty return, repair, RMA, or U.S. goods returned.

Because the validation happens at export time, there is no way to recreate CBP Form 4455 after the fact. If the goods have already left the country unregistered, the importer must prove identity some other way: purchase records, production records, serialized service tickets, photographs, or foreign repair invoices tied to the same serials.

Who is responsible for CBP Form 4455?

Responsibility for CBP Form 4455 sits with the party that controls the goods at export, normally the exporter, who is frequently the same company that will act as importer of record on the return. The broker's role is advisory on the outbound leg and evidentiary on the inbound leg: flag the need for CBP Form 4455 before the shipment moves, then file the return entry with the validated copy in the entry package.

CBP's role is verification. An officer examines the articles, confirms that the serials and marks written on CBP Form 4455 match what is physically in front of them, and validates the form. That officer signature is the whole value of the document. A CBP Form 4455 filled out but never presented and never validated carries far less weight at re-entry.

How does CBP Form 4455 support 9801 and 9802 claims?

CBP Form 4455 supports three distinct Chapter 98 outcomes, and the right one depends on what happened to the goods abroad.

HTSUS 9801.00.10

For U.S. goods returned without having been advanced in value or improved in condition abroad, the claim is made under HTSUS 9801.00.10, with the documentary requirements in 19 CFR 10.1. A validated CBP Form 4455 is a clean way to satisfy the identity element. The declaration itself is usually made on CBP Form 3311, Declaration for Free Entry of Returned American Products, which is the declaration for duty-free return of U.S.-origin goods under 9801.00.10. See our entry on CBP Form 3311 for how the two documents pair.

HTSUS 9802.00.40 and 9802.00.50

Where the goods were repaired or altered abroad, the claim moves to HTSUS 9802.00.40 (repairs made under warranty) or HTSUS 9802.00.50 (other repairs or alterations), governed by 19 CFR 10.8. Duty applies to the value of the repair or alteration rather than the full value of the article, which makes separate documentation of the repair cost essential. CBP Form 4455 establishes that the article going out and the article coming back are the same; the foreign repair invoice establishes what was done and what it cost. You need both.

Common CBP Form 4455 errors and what they cost

Most CBP Form 4455 problems are identity problems, and they surface at re-entry when it is too late to fix them cheaply.

• Goods never registered. No CBP Form 4455 exists, so identity rests on commercial records alone. CBP may deny the Chapter 98 claim and assess duty on the full value.
• Serials that do not match. The repair facility swapped the unit, or a digit was transposed on the form. If the serial on the return invoice does not match the serial on the validated CBP Form 4455, the claim fails on its face.
• Repair value not documented separately. Under 9802.00.40 or 9802.00.50 the dutiable base is the repair, so a lump-sum foreign invoice with no breakout invites CBP to duty the whole value.
• Drawback claimed on the export. If drawback was claimed when the goods went out, the duty-free returned goods treatment is compromised. Reconcile the two programs before the shipment moves.
• Records discarded early. The validated CBP Form 4455, the export records, and the foreign repair invoice are all part of the five year retention obligation under 19 CFR 163.4.

When a claim is questioned, CBP typically starts with an information request rather than a rate advance. Our guidance on responding to CBP Form 28 covers how to assemble an identity package under time pressure.

How CBP Form 4455 relates to other CBP forms

CBP Form 4455 is often confused with instruments that do something else entirely. It is not an ATA carnet, it is not a temporary importation under bond, and it is not CBP Form 3311. CBP Form 4455 proves identity; CBP Form 3311 makes the duty-free declaration.

On the drawback side, the distinction matters because both families involve goods leaving the country. CBP Form 7553, Notice of Intent to Export, Destroy or Return Merchandise for Purposes of Drawback, is the notice that lets CBP examine goods before export or destruction supporting a drawback claim; see our entry on CBP Form 7553. CBP Form 7551, Drawback Entry, was the paper drawback claim and was abolished with TFTEA drawback, with claims now filed electronically in ACE under 19 CFR part 190. CBP Form 7552, Delivery Certificate for Purposes of Drawback, was the former certificate for transfers of merchandise between parties for drawback and was likewise abolished under TFTEA, replaced by the transfer records at 19 CFR 190.10. None of these substitute for CBP Form 4455, and claiming drawback on an export you intend to bring back duty free under Chapter 98 is a conflict to resolve in advance.

Other forms a broker may see near a returned goods file include CBP Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles, which covers personal and household effects arriving separately from the traveler and is not a commercial entry; CBP Form 7523, Entry and Manifest of Merchandise Free of Duty, Carrier's Certificate and Release, the paper entry for low-value duty-free goods; CBP Form 4647, Notice to Mark and/or Redeliver, CBP's notice under 19 CFR 134.51 that articles or containers lack country of origin marking; CBP Form 5955A, Notice of Penalty or Liquidated Damages Incurred and Demand for Payment, the FP and F notice claiming a penalty or bond liquidated damages; CBP Form 6084, CBP's bill form for money owed after liquidation or a rejected payment; and CBP Form 400, ACH Debit Application, which enrolls an importer or broker in CBP's Automated Clearinghouse debit program for paying duties, taxes, fees, and bills electronically.

Frequently asked questions

Is CBP Form 4455 required by regulation?

CBP treats CBP Form 4455 as recommended pre-export evidence of identity rather than a mandated entry document. The Chapter 98 claim can survive without it if identity is otherwise proven, but CBP Form 4455 is the cleanest proof available and costs nothing but time at export.

Can CBP Form 4455 be completed after the goods have left?

No. The value of CBP Form 4455 comes from a CBP officer examining the goods and validating the serials before export, so a form prepared after departure cannot be validated in the ordinary way. In that situation, build the identity record from purchase, production, and service documents instead.

Does CBP Form 4455 work like an ATA carnet?

CBP Form 4455 is not an ATA carnet and does not provide temporary admission into a foreign country. CBP Form 4455 only addresses the U.S. side: proving to CBP that the articles returning are the articles that left.

How long should a validated CBP Form 4455 be kept?

The validated CBP Form 4455 belongs in the entry record set and is subject to the five year retention requirement at 19 CFR 163.4. Keep it with the export records, the foreign repair invoice, and the return entry package so the whole chain can be produced together.

What importers and brokers should do

• Build a pre-export checkpoint: any shipment described as repair, warranty, calibration, RMA, or demo gets a CBP Form 4455 prepared and validated before it moves.
• Capture serials and distinguishing marks at the item level and require the foreign repair facility to return the same serialized unit, or to report substitutions in writing.
• Require foreign repair invoices that state the repair or alteration value separately from any replacement parts or freight, so a 9802.00.40 or 9802.00.50 entry can be valued correctly.
• Confirm before export that no drawback claim is being pursued on the same goods, and file the validated CBP Form 4455 with the export and entry records for the full five year period.

Key references

• CBP forms library: source for CBP Form 4455, Certificate of Registration (rev 2025-06-17), and the related forms named above.
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States: text of HTSUS 9801.00.10, 9802.00.40, and 9802.00.50.
• 19 CFR part 10: 19 CFR 10.1 on free entry of returned American products and 19 CFR 10.8 on articles exported for repairs or alterations.
• 19 CFR part 163: 19 CFR 163.4 record retention, including the five year period.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: port contacts and program guidance for presenting goods for validation.