U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has delayed the mandatory start of its new electronic mail-entry system, Entry Type 13, from October 22, 2026 to January 20, 2027. The delay means international mail procedures will not change before the new date, CBP said in its October 14 announcement.
Source: Becker's Hospital Review
Under the planned rule, postal shipments subject to Section 201, 232 or 301 duties, or regulated by another federal agency such as the Food and Drug Administration, would have to be filed electronically for informal entry or go through formal entry with a licensed customs broker and a bond. Patient groups warned that personal prescription shipments — which rarely face those requirements today — could be delayed, made more expensive, or blocked.
Lawmakers say about 2.3 million Americans buy lower-cost prescription medicines from Canada and other countries for personal use. Representative Rick Larsen of Washington said his office had received dozens of messages from constituents worried about affording their medicines if the rule took effect on October 22, and that he joined 71 members of Congress in urging the administration to delay it and protect access to non-controlled prescription medicines.
Source: U.S. Representative Rick Larsen
CBP said the 90-day extension gives importers, brokers and logistics providers more time to update their processes and is meant to avoid disruption to international postal shipments. The agency encouraged filers to begin using the optional Entry Type 13 process during the transition. It has not announced a broad exemption for personal-use prescriptions, so pharmacy groups describe the delay as temporary relief rather than a permanent fix.
From January 20, 2027, affected international mail must use Entry Type 13 for informal entry or formal entry through a broker. Until then, current mail-entry procedures stay in place. The rule does not change FDA law on whether a medicine itself can be admitted.
For Punjabi and other diaspora families in the United States who help parents and relatives manage medicine costs across borders, the January deadline is now the date to watch. Readers should check with their pharmacy and insurer before ordering, and should not stop taking prescribed medicine because of customs uncertainty.