CBP Form 7533: Inward Cargo Manifest at the Land Border

Key Points

• CBP Form 7533, Inward Cargo Manifest for Vessel Under Five Tons, Ferry, Train, Car, Vehicle, etc. is the arrival manifest for cargo reaching the United States by truck, rail, or small vessel at a land border port.
• CBP Form 7533 is a manifest, not an entry: it reports what arrived and on what conveyance, while release and duty determination happen on separate entry documents.
• Truck arrivals are normally reported through the ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest) rather than on paper, with CBP Form 7533 surviving as the paper form behind the data and as a fallback in limited situations.
• The manifest rules for arrivals from contiguous countries sit in 19 CFR Part 123, including 19 CFR 123.4 and 19 CFR 123.7; confirm the current text and any port-specific instruction before relying on a filing habit.
• As of October 2026, carriers should treat the format question (electronic versus paper CBP Form 7533) as something to verify with the port of arrival, because practice varies by mode and by crossing.

On this page

1. What CBP Form 7533 is
2. At a glance
3. Where CBP Form 7533 comes from in the regulations
4. Who files CBP Form 7533 and when
5. How CBP Form 7533 relates to ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest)
6. How CBP Form 7533 differs from the other manifest and entry forms
7. Common CBP Form 7533 problems
8. Frequently asked questions
9. What importers and brokers should do
10. Key references

CBP Form 7533 is the inward cargo manifest used to report merchandise arriving in the United States on a truck, a railroad train, a ferry, a passenger vehicle, or a vessel of under five net tons, and it is presented by the carrier or the person in charge of the conveyance at the first port of arrival. It belongs to the carrier side of the entry lifecycle: it tells CBP what cargo crossed the border and on what conveyance, before and separate from the importer's entry and entry summary. The links in this article go to the primary documents, the regulations and CBP's own form and program pages themselves. Read the source.

At a glance

• Full name: CBP Form 7533, Inward Cargo Manifest for Vessel Under Five Tons, Ferry, Train, Car, Vehicle, etc.
• Who prepares or uses it: the carrier, driver, or person in charge of the arriving conveyance, often with data supplied by the broker or importer.
• When in the lifecycle: at arrival, before cargo release and before the entry summary is filed.
• System or channel: for trucks, the ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest); the paper CBP Form 7533 remains the underlying form and the fallback where electronic filing does not apply. Confirm the accepted channel with the port.
• Governing authority: 19 CFR Part 123, including 19 CFR 123.4 and 19 CFR 123.7.
• Related terms: CBP Form 1302 (Inward Cargo Declaration, the vessel manifest), CBP Form 7509 (Air Cargo Manifest), CBP Form 6043 (Delivery Ticket), CBP Form 3171 (Application-Permit-Special License Unlading-Lading-Overtime Services).
• Status as of: October 2026.

Where CBP Form 7533 comes from in the regulations

CBP Form 7533 is the manifest document that the regulations on arrivals from contiguous countries call for, and those rules live in 19 CFR Part 123. Part 123 covers how vehicles, trains, and small vessels arriving from Canada and Mexico report themselves and their cargo, what the manifest must show, and how merchandise moves after arrival. Two sections matter most to the day-to-day use of CBP Form 7533: 19 CFR 123.4 and 19 CFR 123.7, which address the manifest requirements and the handling of arriving conveyances and their cargo at the border.

Because Part 123 is amended from time to time and because CBP issues operational instructions at the port level, the practical rule for CBP Form 7533 is to read the current regulation text rather than a saved copy. If a question arises that Part 123 does not answer, confirm it with CBP at the port of arrival or in the current ACE technical documentation rather than assuming.

Who files CBP Form 7533 and when

Responsibility for CBP Form 7533 rests with the carrier: the person in charge of the arriving truck, train, ferry, vehicle, or small vessel, or the carrier's agent acting for that person. The importer and the customs broker normally contribute the cargo detail (shipper, consignee, description, quantity, bill numbers) but they do not become the manifesting party by doing so. If the broker supplies data that turns out to be wrong, the carrier is still the party whose manifest is defective, which is why carriers and brokers in a land border lane need a clear understanding of who proofreads what.

Timing for CBP Form 7533 is arrival-driven, not deadline-driven in the way an entry summary is. The manifest is presented at the first port of arrival so that CBP can account for the conveyance and its cargo before anything is released inland. Advance transmission requirements apply to truck cargo through the ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest); confirm the advance timing that applies to your mode and crossing with CBP, because it is not uniform across truck, rail, and small vessel traffic.

How CBP Form 7533 relates to ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest)

In practice, most CBP Form 7533 content for commercial truck arrivals reaches CBP as an electronic ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest) transmission rather than as a sheet of paper handed through a booth window. The electronic manifest carries the conveyance, crew, equipment, and shipment data that the paper CBP Form 7533 was designed to collect, and it lets CBP run risk assessment before the truck reaches the primary inspection lane. Rail arrivals use their own ACE manifest channel.

The paper CBP Form 7533 has not disappeared. It remains the form behind the data set, it is still used for categories of traffic outside the electronic requirement, and ports can fall back to it during system outages. Carriers should know, for each lane they run, whether CBP Form 7533 is expected electronically, on paper, or either, and should verify that with the port rather than with a neighboring carrier. CBP publishes its forms and its automated systems guidance on cbp.gov.

How CBP Form 7533 differs from the other manifest and entry forms

CBP Form 7533 is one of three mode-specific arrival manifests, and mixing them up is a common source of rejected filings. CBP Form 1302, Inward Cargo Declaration, is the vessel cargo manifest the master files on arrival, listing every bill of lading, filed electronically through ACE ocean manifest with the form as the paper fallback. CBP Form 7509, Air Cargo Manifest, is the carrier's declaration of cargo on an arriving aircraft, filed through ACE air manifest with the paper form as the fallback. CBP Form 7533 covers the land border and small vessel traffic those two do not.

CBP Form 7533 is also not an in-bond document. In-bond movement of merchandise after arrival travels on CBP Form 7512, and it is not an entry: the importer's release and duty obligations are handled on the entry documents and the entry summary. See our explainer on the CBP Form 7501 entry summary for where duty is actually declared, and the entry filing deadline rules for what happens after cargo is released.

Several adjacent forms attach to custody and handling rather than arrival. CBP Form 6043, Delivery Ticket, records delivery of merchandise into a bonded warehouse or container freight station under CBP supervision and is the custody record the proprietor keeps. CBP Form 3499, Application and Approval to Manipulate, Examine, Sample or Transfer Goods, is the permit request for handling merchandise still under CBP custody; our CBP Form 3499 article walks through that. CBP Form 3171, Application-Permit-Special License Unlading-Lading-Overtime Services, is the carrier or agent request for permission to unlade or lade and for CBP services outside regular hours, with the reimbursable overtime it triggers; it is not a cargo manifest and does not substitute for CBP Form 7533.

Duty liability questions raised at the border are handled elsewhere too. 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 liability for duties on an entry. CBP Form 368, Collection Receipt, is CBP's receipt for a payment made at a port, the proof of payment an importer keeps for a protest, a refund request, or an audit. None of these change what CBP Form 7533 reports.

Common CBP Form 7533 problems

Most CBP Form 7533 trouble is data trouble rather than legal trouble. Recurring issues include cargo descriptions too vague to identify the goods, consignee names that do not match the entry party, piece counts and weights that disagree with the commercial invoice, missing or duplicated bill numbers, and shipments physically on the truck that never made it onto the manifest. Any of these can hold a conveyance at primary, trigger an exam, or force a correction before release.

A second pattern is mode confusion: filing a CBP Form 7533 data set for cargo that should have been reported on CBP Form 1302 or CBP Form 7509, or treating CBP Form 7533 as though it authorized an in-bond move. A third is assuming that because a lane has always accepted paper, it still does. Part 123 and CBP's operational guidance are the places to resolve all three.

Frequently asked questions

Is CBP Form 7533 an entry?

No. CBP Form 7533 is an inward cargo manifest that reports what arrived and on what conveyance. It does not classify merchandise, does not declare value, and does not substitute for the entry or entry summary the importer or broker files.

Does CBP Form 7533 apply to rail shipments?

Yes. CBP Form 7533 by its own title covers trains as well as trucks, ferries, vehicles, and vessels under five net tons. Rail carriers generally transmit manifest data electronically through ACE; confirm the applicable channel and timing with CBP for the specific crossing.

Who is liable if CBP Form 7533 is wrong?

The carrier or person in charge of the conveyance is the party responsible for the accuracy of CBP Form 7533, even when a broker or importer supplied the underlying cargo data. Build a review step between the data provider and the transmitting party.

Can a broker file CBP Form 7533 for a carrier?

A broker or agent can prepare and transmit CBP Form 7533 data on a carrier's behalf where the carrier authorizes it, but the manifest obligation stays with the carrier. Confirm with CBP and the carrier how the filing relationship is documented for your lane.

What importers and brokers should do

• Map each land border lane you use and record, in writing, whether CBP Form 7533 data goes through ACE truck manifest (e-Manifest), through the rail channel, or on paper, and who transmits it.
• Read the current text of 19 CFR Part 123, including 19 CFR 123.4 and 19 CFR 123.7, before changing a manifest practice, and confirm port-specific instructions with CBP.
• Reconcile manifest cargo descriptions, piece counts, weights, and consignee names against the commercial documents before the conveyance reaches the border, not after a hold.
• Keep CBP Form 7533 records with the matching entry file so arrival, release, and entry summary data can be tied together during an audit or a request for information.

Key references

• 19 CFR Part 123: the customs regulations governing arrivals, manifests, and merchandise movement from contiguous countries.
• 19 CFR 123.4: manifest requirements applicable to arriving conveyances covered by CBP Form 7533.
• 19 CFR 123.7: further Part 123 provisions on arriving conveyances and their cargo.
• CBP forms library: the official source for the current CBP Form 7533 and related manifest forms.
• CBP automated systems (ACE): CBP's program pages for ACE manifest filing, including the truck manifest (e-Manifest).