CBP Form 6051D: Custody Receipt for Seized Property

Key Points

• CBP Form 6051D, Custody Receipt for Seized Property and Evidence, is CBP's written receipt describing property it has taken into custody, and it is normally the first seizure document an importer or carrier sees.
• CBP Form 6051D is not a detention notice and not the notice of seizure: the formal notice of seizure comes later and starts the 30-day window to file a petition for relief.
• Seizure authority for imported merchandise commonly rests on 19 U.S.C. 1595a, with administrative forfeiture and notice rules at 19 U.S.C. 1607 and 1608 and procedures at 19 CFR Part 162 and 19 CFR Part 171.
• After a seizure, the usual options described in 19 CFR Part 171 are a petition for relief, an offer in compromise, or a claim with a cost bond that pushes the case to court; abandoning the goods is also a choice with consequences.
• As of October 2026 these authorities are in effect; confirm current text and timing in the regulation and with the seizing office before acting.

On this page

1. What CBP Form 6051D is
2. At a glance
3. Where CBP Form 6051D sits in the seizure lifecycle
4. Who issues and who receives CBP Form 6051D
5. What to check on a CBP Form 6051D immediately
6. How CBP Form 6051D relates to the notice of seizure and the petition
7. Common CBP Form 6051D problems and what they cost
8. Related CBP custody and receipt forms
9. Frequently asked questions
10. What importers and brokers should do
11. Key references

The links in this article go to the primary documents: the statutes, the regulations, and the official agency pages themselves. Read the source rather than a summary of it.

CBP Form 6051D, Custody Receipt for Seized Property and Evidence, is the receipt U.S. Customs and Border Protection gives when it takes merchandise, conveyances, currency, or other property into custody as seized property or as evidence. It is prepared by the CBP officer who takes custody, handed or mailed to the person from whom the property was taken, and it identifies the property, the place and date of the taking, and the case or seizure number that every later document in the matter will reference. CBP Form 6051D is a custody record, not a charging document: it does not by itself state the legal grounds, and it does not start the clock on a petition.

At a glance

• Full name: CBP Form 6051D, Custody Receipt for Seized Property and Evidence.
• Who prepares or uses it: the CBP officer taking custody prepares it; the importer, carrier, driver, traveler, broker, or counsel receives and relies on it.
• When in the lifecycle: at the moment of seizure or of taking property as evidence, before the formal notice of seizure issues.
• System or channel: issued in paper at the port, warehouse, mail facility, or border crossing; delivery practice varies by port, so confirm with the seizing office.
• Governing authority: seizure and forfeiture provisions including 19 U.S.C. 1595a, 19 U.S.C. 1607 and 19 U.S.C. 1608, with procedures at 19 CFR Part 162 and petition practice at 19 CFR Part 171.
• What it is not: not a detention notice, not the notice of seizure, not a penalty notice, and not a bill.
• Related terms: CBP Form 6043 (Delivery Ticket), CBP Form 368 (Collection Receipt), CBP Form 7533, CBP Form 7509, CBP Form 1302.

Where CBP Form 6051D sits in the seizure lifecycle

CBP Form 6051D marks the transition from examination or detention to seizure, because it is the document that records that CBP now holds the property rather than merely holding up its release. Before that point, goods may sit under examination or under a detention, which is a hold that CBP can lift by releasing the shipment. Once CBP decides that the merchandise is subject to forfeiture, custody passes to the agency and the officer documents it. In practice the importer or the driver is handed CBP Form 6051D at the dock, the land border lot, the express consignment hub, or the international mail branch, and the broker learns of it when the client forwards a scanned copy or when the entry fails to move.

Everything that follows in the case refers back to the case number shown on the receipt. The formal notice of seizure, prepared later by the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures office, states the legal grounds and the options, and it is the notice, not CBP Form 6051D, that opens the 30-day petition window described in 19 CFR Part 171. Because the notice can arrive well after the goods are taken, CBP Form 6051D is often the only evidence a client has that a seizure exists at all.

Who issues and who receives CBP Form 6051D

CBP Form 6051D is issued by the CBP officer who physically takes the property, and it is given to the person in possession at the time, which is frequently not the importer of record. At a truck crossing it may go to the driver; at a warehouse it may go to the proprietor's floor staff; in the mail environment it may be left with the shipment paperwork or mailed to the addressee. Brokers should treat any copy of CBP Form 6051D that reaches them as time-sensitive and route it to the importer and to counsel the same day, because the response path and the deadlines run from the later notice of seizure and a lost week is a lost week of preparation.

Responsibility for responding sits with the party claiming an interest in the property: the owner, the importer of record, a lienholder, or a carrier whose conveyance was seized. A power of attorney for customs business does not automatically make a broker the right party to petition, so confirm authority before filing anything on a client's behalf.

What to check on a CBP Form 6051D immediately

Reading CBP Form 6051D carefully on day one prevents most of the arguments that come later about what was actually taken. Compare the description, quantity, marks, and serial numbers on the receipt against the commercial invoice, the packing list, and the entry documents, and document any difference in writing to the seizing office at once. Note the date and place of the taking, the name and badge or office of the issuing officer, and the case number exactly as written, including any suffix. If the property includes items that are evidence rather than merchandise, such as devices or documents, record that separately, because evidence may be handled on a different track from merchandise subject to forfeiture.

How CBP Form 6051D relates to the notice of seizure and the petition

CBP Form 6051D is the receipt; the notice of seizure is the pleading. The notice identifies the statutory basis, typically 19 U.S.C. 1595a for merchandise introduced contrary to law, states the appraised value, and sets out the available responses. Administrative forfeiture of property within the statutory value limits proceeds under 19 U.S.C. 1607 with publication and written notice, and 19 U.S.C. 1608 describes how a person claiming the property files a claim and posts a cost bond so the matter moves to a judicial forfeiture proceeding. Confirm the current statutory value thresholds and bond requirements in the statute text and with the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures office, because those figures change.

Under 19 CFR Part 171, the ordinary administrative route is a petition for relief filed within 30 days of the date of the notice of seizure, setting out the facts, the claimant's interest, and the grounds for mitigation or remission. A petitioner may also propose an offer in compromise, which is a monetary proposal to settle the claim of forfeiture. Choosing the claim and cost bond path under 19 U.S.C. 1608 ends the administrative process and sends the case to the U.S. Attorney. Each path has different cost and timing consequences, and the choice should be made with counsel while the goods are still in CBP custody.

Common CBP Form 6051D problems and what they cost

The most expensive mistake around CBP Form 6051D is treating it as paperwork to be filed rather than as the start of a forfeiture case. Typical failures include: the driver keeps the receipt in the cab and the importer never sees it; the described quantity on CBP Form 6051D does not match the shipment and no one objects until months later; the case number is transcribed wrong so correspondence does not reach the file; and the company waits for the notice of seizure to arrive at a stale address, losing most of the 30-day petition window. Separately, storage of seized goods can accrue costs that the claimant may bear, so delay rarely improves the economics.

Where the underlying problem is a classification, valuation, or origin error rather than a prohibited-goods issue, the compliance team should also consider whether a prior disclosure is appropriate for other entries, and should review any open CBP Form 28 or CBP Form 29 correspondence on related shipments.

Related CBP custody and receipt forms

CBP Form 6051D belongs to a family of CBP receipts and custody records, and brokers who understand the family read a seizure file faster. CBP Form 6043, Delivery Ticket, records delivery of merchandise into a bonded warehouse or container freight station under CBP supervision and is the proprietor's custody record; CBP Form 368, Collection Receipt, is CBP's receipt for a payment made at a port, which matters if a mitigated amount is later paid. CBP Form 300, Bonded Warehouse Proprietor's Submission, is the annual inventory reconciliation a warehouse files, and discrepancies there can precede a seizure. On the arrival side, CBP Form 1302, Inward Cargo Declaration, is the vessel cargo manifest filed on arrival, CBP Form 7509, Air Cargo Manifest, is the carrier's declaration of cargo on an arriving aircraft, and CBP Form 7533, Inward Cargo Manifest for Vessel Under Five Tons, Ferry, Train, Car, Vehicle, etc. is the land border arrival manifest; these establish what was aboard when CBP took custody. CBP Form 3171, Application-Permit-Special License Unlading-Lading-Overtime Services, is the carrier request for permission to unlade or lade and for after-hours CBP services. Temporary importation files raise their own issues: CBP Form 3173, Application for Extension of Bond for Temporary Importation, extends the one-year TIB period in one-year increments up to three years total and must be filed before the current period expires. Travelers who registered serial-numbered items on CBP Form 4457, Certificate of Registration for Personal Effects Taken Abroad, have useful proof of prior possession if those items appear on a CBP Form 6051D. And CBP Form 434, NAFTA Certificate of Origin, is retired: it was replaced on July 1, 2020 by the USMCA certification of origin, which has no prescribed form and may be any document carrying the nine data elements, a point worth knowing when a seizure turns on a preference claim.

Frequently asked questions

Does CBP Form 6051D start the 30-day petition clock?

No. CBP Form 6051D is the custody receipt, and the 30-day petition window under 19 CFR Part 171 runs from the notice of seizure, not from the receipt. Treat CBP Form 6051D as the signal to start preparing, and confirm the controlling date with the Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures office handling the case.

Is CBP Form 6051D the same as a detention notice?

No. A detention is a hold that CBP can lift by releasing the merchandise, while CBP Form 6051D documents that CBP has seized the property and taken it into custody. If a client shows you a CBP Form 6051D, the matter has moved past detention into the seizure and forfeiture process under 19 CFR Part 162.

What should I do if the description on CBP Form 6051D is wrong?

Write to the seizing office promptly, identify the case number shown on the CBP Form 6051D, and attach the invoice, packing list, and entry documents that support the correct description, quantity, or serial numbers. Keep a copy of the correspondence, because the description on CBP Form 6051D will otherwise be the baseline for appraised value and for any later return of property.

Can a customs broker petition on the importer's behalf?

A broker should not assume that a customs power of attorney covers a petition arising from a CBP Form 6051D seizure, because the petitioner must be a person with an interest in the seized property. Confirm who holds that interest, obtain written authority, and involve counsel where the value or the statutory basis is significant.

What importers and brokers should do

• Create a same-day escalation rule: any CBP Form 6051D received by a driver, warehouse, or mailroom is scanned and sent to the compliance lead, the importer of record, and counsel on the day it is handed over.
• Verify, in writing to the seizing office, that the description, quantity, and identifying numbers on CBP Form 6051D match the shipment records, and preserve the case number exactly as written.
• Confirm the current text and timing of 19 U.S.C. 1595a, 19 U.S.C. 1607 and 1608, 19 CFR Part 162, and 19 CFR Part 171 before choosing between a petition, an offer in compromise, and a claim with a cost bond; as of October 2026 these authorities are in effect, but verify status before acting.
• Confirm that the importer's address of record is current so the notice of seizure that follows CBP Form 6051D is not delivered to a stale address and does not burn the 30-day window.

Key references

• 19 U.S.C. 1595a: forfeiture authority for merchandise introduced contrary to law.
• 19 U.S.C. 1607: notice and publication rules for administrative forfeiture.
• 19 U.S.C. 1608: filing a claim and cost bond to move a case to judicial forfeiture.
• 19 CFR Part 162: inspection, search, seizure, and forfeiture procedures.
• 19 CFR Part 171: petitions for relief, mitigation, remission, and offers in compromise.
• CBP forms library: official source for CBP Form 6051D and the related custody and manifest forms.