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Homeland Security Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Enhanced Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS)

Published November 21, 2025. Takes effect November 21, 2025, printed at 90 FR 52796, amending 19 CFR 103, 19 CFR 122. 43,440 words.

In plain English

Air cargo is screened before it flies. This tightens what must be sent ahead.

Read it at the Federal Register →

What the Rule Says It Does

To address ongoing aviation security threats, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is amending its regulations pertaining to the Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) program to require the transmission of additional data elements. The ACAS program enhances the security of flights carrying cargo into the United States by requiring the transmission of certain air cargo data and performing targeted risk assessments based on the transmitted data prior to an aircraft's departure for the United States. These risk assessments identify and prevent high-risk air cargo from being loaded onto an aircraft that could pose a risk to an aircraft during flight.

This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.

The Order It Names

The rule names this order itself. What it does about it is a reading, and none is recorded here.

On the Face of the Rule

As filed

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 223 (Friday, November 21, 2025)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 52796-52845] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2025-20606]

Vol. 90

Friday,

No. 223

November 21, 2025

Part II

Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

19 CFR Parts 103 and 122

Enhanced Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS); Final Rule

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

19 CFR Parts 103 and 122

[Docket No. USCBP-2025-0053; CBP Dec. 25-08] RIN 1651-AB61

Enhanced Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS)

AGENCY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DHS.

ACTION

Interim final rule; request for comments.

DATES

Effective Date: This interim final rule is effective as of November 21, 2025.

Comment Date: Comments must be received by January 20, 2026.

ADDRESSES

Please submit any comments, identified by docket number USCBP-2025-0053, by the following method:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the “Public Participation” heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Joseph Martella, Cargo and Conveyance Security, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, by telephone at 646-315-4330 or by email at [email protected].

The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.

Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Table of Contents

I. Public Participation II. Executive Summary III. Background and Purpose

A. Regulatory History

B. Statutory Authority

C. CBP Regulatory Requirements

1. 19 CFR 122.48a--Electronic Information for Air Cargo Required in Advance of Arrival

2. 19 CFR 122.48b--ACAS

D. TSA Requirements

E. Air Cargo Security Risks

F. The Enhanced ACAS Program Development Process IV. ACAS Program Revisions

A. Enhanced ACAS Data Element Definitions

B. Mandatory Data Elements

C. Conditional Data Element: Master Air Waybill Number

D. Conditional Data Element: Verified Known Consignor Information

E. Conditional Data Elements That May Be Required When There Is Not a Verified Known Consignor

F. Optional Data Elements

G. Retention of Government-Issued Photo Identification Document Copies

H. Exemption of ACAS Data From Disclosure

I. Phased Enforcement

J. Severability V. Statutory and Regulatory Reviews

A. Administrative Procedure Act

B. Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14192

C. Regulatory Flexibility Assessment

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

E. Privacy Act of 1974 and E-Government Act of 2002

F. Paperwork Reduction Act

G. International Trade Impact Assessment

H. Congressional Review Act

The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.

What the Rule Contains

Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 53 headings, 43,440 words in all.

  1. AGENCYOn its face · 7 words
  2. ACTIONOn its face · 7 words
  3. SUMMARYOn its face · 101 words
  4. DATESOn its face · 24 words
  5. ADDRESSESOn its face · 96 words
  6. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 29 words
  7. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 2 words
  8. Table of ContentsPreamble · 3 words
  9. I. Public Participation II. Executive Summary III. Background and PurposePreamble · 170 words
  10. Table of AbbreviationsPreamble · 116 words
  11. I. Public ParticipationPreamble · 82 words
  12. II. Executive SummaryPreamble · 1,761 words
  13. III. Background and Purpose\1\Preamble · 125 words
  14. A. Regulatory HistoryPreamble · 513 words
  15. B. Statutory AuthorityPreamble · 511 words
  16. C. CBP Regulatory RequirementsPreamble · 2,386 words
  17. D. TSA RequirementsPreamble · 741 words
  18. E. Air Cargo Security RisksPreamble · 534 words
  19. F. The Enhanced ACAS Program Development ProcessPreamble · 336 words
  20. IV. ACAS Program RevisionsPreamble · 767 words
  21. A. Enhanced ACAS Data Element DefinitionsPreamble · 107 words
  22. B. Mandatory Data ElementsPreamble · 1,907 words
  23. E. Conditional Data Elements That May Be Required When There Is Not a Verified Known ConsignorPreamble · 8,589 words
  24. F. Optional Data ElementsPreamble · 1,406 words
  25. G. Retention of Government-Issued Photo Identification Document CopiesPreamble · 466 words
  26. H. Exemption of ACAS Data From DisclosurePreamble · 478 words
  27. I. Phased EnforcementPreamble · 527 words
  28. J. SeverabilityPreamble · 429 words
  29. V. Statutory and Regulatory ReviewsPreamble · 5 words
  30. A. Administrative Procedure ActPreamble · 1,047 words
  31. B. Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 14192Preamble · 1,202 words
  32. 1. Shipper name and address \39\Preamble · 47 words
  33. 2. Consignee name and address \40\Preamble · 42 words
  34. 3. Cargo description \41\Preamble · 84 words
  35. 7. Master Air Waybill Number (MAWB) (conditional) \43\Preamble · 18 words
  36. 8. Second Notify Party (optional) \44\Preamble · 1,309 words
  37. 2. Enhanced ACAS FilingPreamble · 1,150 words
  38. 4. Time Period of AnalysisPreamble · 1,902 words
  39. 6. Costs CBP IT System CostsPreamble · 241 words
  40. CBP Opportunity CostsPreamble · 561 words
  41. Trade Member IT System CostsPreamble · 1,718 words
  42. Trade Member Opportunity CostsPreamble · 1,642 words
  43. Trade Member Miscellaneous CostsPreamble · 1,833 words
  44. Total CostsPreamble · 73 words
  45. 7. BenefitsPreamble · 3,780 words
  46. C. Regulatory Flexibility AssessmentPreamble · 163 words
  47. D. Unfunded Mandates Reform ActPreamble · 164 words
  48. E. Privacy Act of 1974 and E-Government Act of 2002Preamble · 199 words
  49. F. Paperwork Reduction ActPreamble · 1,005 words
  50. G. International Trade Impact AssessmentPreamble · 235 words
  51. H. Congressional Review ActPreamble · 185 words
  52. VI. Signing AuthorityPreamble · 25 words
  53. List of SubjectsRegulatory text · 2,498 words

The Rest of the Text

This rule runs to 43,440 words. The rest of it is set out over 3 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.

How to cite this
  1. The rule itself

    Homeland Security Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Enhanced Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS),” 90 FR 52796 (November 21, 2025). Effective November 21, 2025.
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/21/2025-20606/enhanced-air-cargo-advance-screening-acas

  2. This page

    “Enhanced Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS),” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2025-20606/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).

Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.

How This Rule Is Set Out

Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 3 pages rather than one.

Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.

A heading with nothing quoted under it is one the rule prints on its own, with the words that follow it set under the headings beneath.