CBP FIRMS code lookup

Where the code turns up on a filing

• In-bond arrival. 19 CFR 18.1(j) requires notification to CBP within two business days of arrival at the port of destination or exportation, and that notification "must include the Facilities Information and Resources Management System (FIRMS) code of the location of the merchandise within the port." Failure to report either the arrival or the code is an irregular delivery.
• Location of goods on cargo release. The SE11 record carries a four-character Location of Goods (FIRMS) field — the code for where the cargo is currently stored.
• Elected exam site. A second four-character FIRMS field in the same record names the filer's preferred Centralized Examination Station. Per CD 3550-29, if there is more than one CES in the port of entry the filer specifies which; if there is only one, the field is left blank.
• Warehouse entry. On entry types 21 and 22, the FIRMS code of the bonded warehouse is mandatory, and CBP validates that it is facility type 04, located in the port of entry (or the recognised local port cluster) and active.
• FTZ entry. On entry type 06 — goods leaving the zone into the customs territory — the FIRMS code of the FTZ site must be entered in the SE11 record (ACE Cargo Release implementation guide, Note 4). Where the port director has approved a single FIRMS code for a subzone with multiple sites under one activity-type-4 bond and one inventory system, that single code may also be declared as Location of Goods.
• FTZ admission (e214). A separate transaction with its own validations. Since 11 December 2025 CBP enforces in production that the declared FIRMS code is not blank, is on file, is an FTZ site, is active, is in the port of entry and is bonded; that the bond is activity type 4 FTZ and active; and that the Zone ID is valid and matches the Zone ID CBP has assigned to that FIRMS code.

Air is the exception. CBP has said the in-bond FIRMS validation does not yet affect in-bonds originating in air mode, regardless of the in-transit mode, and that it is working to deploy the validation across all modes at a future date. Treat the air exemption as temporary.

Looking up a code that is not in this table

The live list is ACE Report TA-003 (Public FIRMS), deployed in April 2024 to replace the retired ACS report and available to all ACE Reports users. It returns facility name, type, status and address, for any port of entry or nationally. The path is Public Reports → ACE → Trade → Importer → Reference → Trade Accounts → TA-003 (Public FIRMS), and you need an ACE Portal account to get there.

Check it even when the facility gives you the code over the phone. The 2023 snapshot alone holds roughly 5,200 retired codes, some of which are still printed on rate sheets.

What goes wrong

• The code is right but the facility class is wrong. The same address can hold a pier code and a bonded warehouse code. On a type 21 or 22 warehouse entry CBP checks that the code is facility type 04; a pier code fails.
• The code belongs to another port. ACE checks that the FIRMS code is within the arrival port. On truck arrivals the rejections are 157 (FIRMS code required), 158 (FIRMS code not on file), 159 (firm not active) and 164 (firm not on file for DDPP); ocean and rail return 157 only; FTZ returns 028 (FIRMS code not on file).
• The bond is not attached to the code. For locations that require one, ACE verifies the correct bond type is in place against the code. CBP warned filers to secure and associate the bond before the August 2024 deployment, and enforces the FTZ equivalent — activity type 4, active status — on e214.
• A validator that assumes letter-plus-three-digits. A quarter of active codes break that pattern.
• A name mismatch that is not an error. CBP's record keeps the name the facility had when it was set up. A code returning a carrier that left the trade twenty years ago can still be the correct, active code for that berth.
• Missing the clock. Arrival must be reported within two business days. Sixteen days after the whole in-bond shipment arrives, the merchandise becomes subject to general order (19 CFR 18.1(k)) — and general order is where demurrage and storage charges stop being an argument and start being an invoice.

Frequently asked questions

What does FIRMS stand for?

Facilities Information and Resources Management System. CBP uses it to identify the facility or location where cargo physically sits within a port.

How many characters is a FIRMS code?

Four. CBP's Cargo Release implementation guide defines the Location of Goods (FIRMS) field as four alphanumeric characters, and every code in CBP's published FIRMS report that carries a district/port assignment is four characters beginning with a letter.

Where is the official CBP FIRMS code list?

ACE Report TA-003 (Public FIRMS), inside ACE Reports, under Public Reports → ACE → Trade → Importer → Reference → Trade Accounts. It replaced the ACS Public FIRMS report, which CBP discontinued in 2023 when the Automated Commercial System was retired. The last file CBP published openly on cbp.gov carries a processing date of 8 September 2023, which is the snapshot this page's table comes from.

Is a FIRMS code required on air in-bonds?

Yes. 19 CFR 18.1(j) requires the FIRMS code in the arrival notification in every mode of transport. What excludes air is CBP's automated check, not the rule: in-bonds originating in air mode are not affected by the August 2024 ACE validation, so an air arrival without a code will transmit rather than reject. The requirement, the irregular-delivery consequence and the liquidated-damages exposure are unchanged, and CBP has said it is working to deploy the validation across all modes.

What happens if we arrive an in-bond without one?

The transaction is rejected — the arrival is never transmitted — and failure to report arrival within the prescribed period is an irregular delivery. CBP has said non-compliance with 19 CFR 18.1(j) will result in liquidated damages.

Our broker files the in-bonds. Why would our own system need to hold FIRMS codes?

Because the broker files what you tell them. Which yard, which CFS, which of a terminal's several codes — that is a fact only your operations team holds. When it lives solely in the broker's file, every deconsolidation to a new warehouse becomes an email thread, and a rejected arrival costs a day you do not have before the general-order clock runs. Holding it on your own facility record is a setup task, not a project.